USA: Republicans in the House of Representatives also fail Kevin McCarthy in the fifth ballot

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Fifth ballot, fifth defeat: Kevin McCarthy has so far not managed to be elected Speaker of the House of Representatives

Photo: JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS

Republican Kevin McCarthy has failed again in the election for chairman of the US House of Representatives - now for the fifth time.

On Tuesday there were three unsuccessful ballots, on Wednesday the fourth vote ended in a defeat for the 57-year-old.

It is a historic defeat and a public embarrassment for McCarthy, as it is the first time in a hundred years that a faction has refused to support its candidate in the first round of the election.

At first there was no solution in sight to the impasse that had thrown Congress into chaos.

An appeal by ex-President Donald Trump to his party colleagues to end the drama and vote for McCarthy went unheeded.

US President Joe Biden called the election debacle "embarrassing".

For years, a dispute has been raging among the Republicans between those members who, like Trump, want to move the party further to the right, and a comparatively more moderate camp.

McCarthy faces allegations that he was not aggressive enough in his tenure as minority leader to stand up to the Democrats under outgoing leader Nancy Pelosi.

Some Republicans also consider him too fickle.

Trump's hold on MAGA Republicans is waning

Trump had already expressed his support for McCarthy before the election, but this did not prevent the campaign against him.

His renewed appeal failed to impress the party's internal rebels, which is yet another sign of Trump's waning influence within the Republican Party.

After the parliamentary elections in November, Congress met for the first time in a new constellation on Tuesday.

The Republicans took control of the House of Representatives - in the Senate Biden's Democrats still have a narrow majority.

In the coming years, Biden will therefore be more dependent than before on cooperation with the Republicans, since they can block legislative projects at will with their majority in the House of Representatives.

However, it is unclear whether there will even be a common line among them in view of the complete internal disorganization.

In view of the election debacle, nothing is going on in the House of Representatives for the time being.

Until the presidency is clarified, the Chamber of Congress cannot begin its work, not even the new MPs can be sworn in.

jso/dpa/Reuters