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Kevin McCarthy
Photo: JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS
It's been a long day in the US House of Representatives.
And it was a seemingly never-ending debacle for US Republicans.
In the sixth ballot, the party failed to install Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.
Stubborn dissenters in their own ranks prevented the process, which was actually supposed to be more of a formality.
After a break of several hours and unsuccessful negotiations behind the scenes, the house agreed in the evening (local time) on an adjournment until noon on Thursday (6 p.m. German time).
The corresponding application was accepted only very narrowly.
The Democrats opposed the Republicans' plan.
Until the presidency is clarified, the Chamber of Congress cannot begin its work, not even the new MPs can be sworn in.
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.
In the sixth round of voting, the Republicans again nominated an opposing candidate – again Republican MP Byron Donalds.
As in the previous election, he received 20 votes.
Donalds was nominated by Scott Perry, chairman of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, of which Donalds is a member.
Trump's warning didn't help either
Even ex-President Donald Trump's appeal to his party colleagues to end the drama and vote for McCarthy went unheeded.
US President Joe Biden called the election debacle "embarrassing".
McCarthy could now try to start negotiations with the Democrats.
They could help him win the elections by abstaining in their ranks, for example, because that would reduce the number of votes needed.
It would also be possible for a new candidate to be put forward that a majority of Republicans could agree on.
Talks with the Democrats about a consensus candidate that they would support would also be conceivable.
So far, however, no way out is in sight.
Camp struggle in the party escalated
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.
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.
jok/Reuters