Rep. Kevin McCarthy failed to win a majority on a second round of votes for House speaker, keeping the House chamber in limbo on the first day of the 118th Congress.
Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, has been unable to reach an agreement with a group of conservatives who say that he has not worked hard enough to advance and defend GOP priorities, especially when it comes to runaway government spending. The conservative holdouts want someone else to become speaker and say they are not backing down.
Second-ballot votes yielded little improvement for Mr. McCarthy, who lost 19 votes to Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican and conservative firebrand who founded the House Freedom Caucus.
Mr. Jordan is not running for speaker and nominated Mr. McCarthy on the second ballot. But Mr. Jordan was nominated by staunch McCarthy opponent Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican.
No lawmaker won a majority of 218 votes required to be elected speaker.
Mr. McCarthy garnered 203 votes on the second ballot, while Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York garnered 213 votes, beating Mr. McCarthy a second time.
Mr. McCarthy also lost the first ballot by 19 votes, signaling he has not made any gains among his dug-in, conservative opponents.
“It’s going to become increasingly clear he’s not going to become speaker,” Rep. Bob Good, a Virginia Republican and McCarthy opponent, told reporters in the Capitol. “We will never cave. We will never vote for him. So the sooner he pulls out, for the good of the country, for the good of the Congress, the better off everyone is and we can move together to find the best person who can reach 218.”
Mr. McCarthy does not intend to drop his bid and the inconclusive speaker’s contest left the chamber in a rare moratorium, halting the opening day organizing and the swearing-in of all House lawmakers that is required to start the legislative session.
With no speaker or subsequent organizing, the chamber will operate under the authority of the House clerk from the preceding Congress, Cheryl L. Johnson, who was appointed most recently in 2021 by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat.
Ms. Johnson will preside over the chamber until a speaker is elected, and even Mr. McCarthy seemed unsure when it would happen.
When a reporter suggested it may take days to determine a speaker, Mr. McCarthy responded, “It could.”
He blamed the disarray on the group of conservative rebels, who he said are “trying to fight for their own personal items instead of trying to fight for the country.” He said the rebels are taking advantage of the GOP’s tiny majority to make a power play.
He defended his leadership and the GOP’s advance to the majority under him and said the Republicans will advance border security, fiscal responsibility and parental rights in education.
The threats from his opponents will not be successful, Mr. McCarthy said.
“That’s not how it works,” he said. “You’ve got to put the people before politics and I don’t think that’s what their constituents elected them to do.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.