Voting in the House of Representatives: McCarthy fails in the ninth ballot too – a sad record

Created: 05/01/2023 23:26

Kevin McCarthy during the second round of voting.

© Alex Brandon/AP/dpa

Kevin McCarthy also failed the ninth ballot for the presidency of the House of Representatives.

Now the Republican is probably also negotiating with the Democrats.

Update from January 5, 10:58 p.m .:

After the ninth vote, the presidency of the US House of Representatives is not certain again.

Republican Kevin McCarthy got 200 votes and Democrat Hakeem Jeffries got 212 votes.

Twenty-one Republican lawmakers either voted for other candidates or abstained, with McCarthy needing 17 of the votes for a majority.

Thus, the Republican lost one vote compared to the previous ballot.

Immediately after the vote, the Republicans again nominated Kevin McCarthy as their nominee for the post of Chairman of the US House of Representatives, and the Democrats will also be running with Hakeem Jeffries.

This will result in a tenth ballot.

The front between the group around MP and Trump fan Matt Gaetz and the majority of the Republican party seems hardened, with no solution in sight at the moment.

New record in voting in the US House of Representatives

New record in the power struggle in the US Congress: Since the 19th century, the members of the House of Representatives have not needed so many attempts to elect a new chairman.

Republican Kevin McCarthy did not get the necessary majority to secure the top job in the House of Representatives in the ninth ballot on Thursday.

This means that at least one more attempt is necessary.

There have not been so many elections since 1859/1860.

Republican William Pennington was only elected chairman in the 44th ballot.

The procedure took several weeks.

The current power struggle already had a historical dimension.

It is the first time in a hundred years that it takes several attempts to fill the top position.

In 1923, nine ballots were needed to elect a chairman.

Even then, the whole thing lasted several days.

It took the longest in 1855/56 - at that time the parliamentary chamber needed two months for the election and 133 ballots.

McCarthy again lost out in the eighth ballot

Update from January 5, 9:24 p.m .:

Kevin McCarthy could not win a majority in the eighth ballot either, so the presidency of the US House of Representatives could not be determined again.

The Republican received 201 votes, while his Democratic opponent Hakeem Jeffries received 212 votes.

21 Republican MPs refused McCarthy their vote.

McCarthy also fails in the seventh ballot – critics vote for Trump 

Update from January 5, 7.30 p.m .:

Even in the seventh ballot for the presidency in the US House of Representatives, Republican MP Kevin McCarthy was unable to gather a majority behind him.

One of his biggest critics, the ardent Trump supporter Matt Gaetz, even voted for the former US President.

When voting, MPs can also vote for people who are not members of the US Congress.

Trump is given no realistic chance of being elected speaker of the House of Representatives.

The former president previously backed Republican nominee Kevin McCarthy.

This has now failed in seven ballots because some opponents of the party refuse to vote.

They belong to the right fringe of the party and are Trump supporters.

However, the ex-president's appeal left her cold.

Republican Rep. Byron Donalds received 19 votes.

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McCarthy shows "desperation": candidate now failed in six ballots

First report:

Washington - With new concessions by Republican Kevin McCarthy to his opponents, the power struggle for the highest office in the US Parliament is entering the next round.

The House of Representatives was due to reconvene this Thursday - a new vote on chairing the House of Representatives was expected.

Previously, there had been negotiations behind the scenes.

However, it was still completely open as to whether McCarthy had managed to unite his opponents in the party behind him.

He was opposed by ardent supporters of former President Donald Trump in previous votes.

According to reports, McCarthy has once again taken a big step towards his party opponents in order to secure their votes and break the deadlock.

The 57-year-old is said to have even agreed to further lower the hurdles for removing a chairman from the House of Representatives.

He offers his opponents a means of pressure to chase him out of office at will.

This could have serious ramifications and create even more instability when important decisions are about to be made in Congress.

The right-wing MPs could hold the Chamber hostage.

McCarthy had already come a long way to accommodate the renegades on this point - but without success.

He is now showing a new level of "despair," judged the broadcaster CNN.

McCarthy fails six ballots: Remains short of required majority

McCarthy had previously failed six ballots.

For two days he failed to obtain the required majority for the election of the head of the parliamentary chamber and was embarrassed.

If McCarthy cannot come to terms with opponents in his party, he may attempt to negotiate 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 the Republicans could agree on.

Talks with the Democrats about a consensus candidate that they would support would also be conceivable.

The fact that the Democrats currently seem to be very happy to see McCarthy fail was shown on Wednesday evening.

After a break, MPs met again.

McCarthy had previously said that another vote that evening would not succeed - so one of his confidants asked for the meeting to be adjourned.

However, the Democrats opposed the project.

Only at the last moment was the motion passed by a razor-thin Republican majority.

Video: US Republicans despair over election chaos in Congress

On Tuesday and Wednesday, several Republicans refused to support their party colleague McCarthy and voted for other candidates in the election for the presidency.

20 Republicans rallied behind opposition candidate Byron Donalds in Wednesday's ballot.

McCarthy's opponents had nominated the Republican.

With Republicans holding a narrow majority in the House of Commons, McCarthy needs almost every vote in his party to be elected leader.

(dpa/fmü)