Spineless Coward Elected Speaker
After 15 votes and innumerable concessions, Kevin McCarthy is nominally in charge of the House of Representatives.
WaPo (“Kevin McCarthy elected House Speaker, breaking historic deadlock“)
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy became the 55th speaker of the House early Saturday morning, overcoming a fierce challenge to his leadership by a group of far-right members that led him to make steep concessions and suggests a contentious two years ahead.
“I’m glad it’s over,” McCarthy told reporters after gaining the 216 votes he needed after midnight.
“As Speaker of the House my ultimate responsibility is not to my party,” he said in a speech after 1 a.m. in the chamber. “Our responsibility is to our country.”
Too late for that, buddy.
His election capped four days of bitter infighting among Republicans over their future that finally appeared to be headed to a resolution Friday night, with McCarthy and his allies projecting confidence as they headed into a 14th vote around 10 p.m.
But that vote failed as well, in a stunning turn of events that blindsided McCarthy. Lacking just one vote to elect a speaker after days of negotiations and roll-call votes, at least one lawmaker was seen wiping tears away and a McCarthy ally charged angrily at one of the holdouts, his frustration boiling over.
Republicans’ infighting over the speakership caused a logjam unprecedented in modern history. With 14 failed rounds of voting, the House surpassed the number of votes it endured — nine — the last time such a stalemate occurred, in 1923.
President Biden released a statement congratulating McCarthy on the victory. “This is a time to govern responsibly and to ensure that we’re putting the interests of American families first,” Biden said.
Sick burn!
On Friday, McCarthy finally was able to make progress after his allies worked to hammer out a framework that resulted in 14 of the 20 holdouts voting for him on Friday afternoon on the 12th ballot, prompting cheers from the Republican side of the aisle.
“The potential of what’s been described to us, pending approval, is transformative to empower the rank and file,” Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.), who flipped for McCarthy, said after the 12th ballot.
On the 13th ballot, McCarthy gained support from one more holdout, Andy Harris (R-Md.), capping the most momentum he had seen all week. Still, those 214 votes were not enough.
The House agreed to reconvene hours later to allow Wesley Hunt (R-Tex.) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.) time to return to vote. Hunt had flown back to Texas to be with his wife, who just days before had delivered a baby several weeks premature and had since returned to the hospital with complications. Buck had traveled to Colorado for a medical procedure.
“We’ll come back tonight … and finish this once and for all. It just reminds me of what my father always told me: It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” McCarthy said. “I think at the end of the day, we’re going to be more effective, more efficient.”
No. No, you’re not.
But when the House reconvened late Friday night, four of the original 20 holdouts continued to vote against McCarthy, while two of them — Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Matt Gaetz (Fla.) — voted “present”, effectively abstaining.
That left McCarthy short just one vote of the speakership — the closest he has been all week.
McCarthy allies swarmed Gaetz —who cast his vote last —on the floor and tried to persuade the Florida Republican to change his vote, with party-mate Mike Rogers of Alabama storming into the huddle and seeming on the brink of violence. Rogers then retreated to a cloakroom off the floor.
Democrats and Republicans alike appeared stunned by the turn of events, and the chamber was nearly silent as people processed what was going on.
McCarthy’s speaker bid appeared to be stymied once again, as lawmakers began voting to adjourn until Monday. But just moments before that vote was ending, McCarthy signaled he had a deal, quickly changing his own vote not to adjourn.
Former president Donald Trump, who McCarthy once privately disavowed in the wake of the Capitol attack but has since embraced, appeared to try to talk to at least one of the holdouts via phone while they were still on the floor, whipping their votes. He called Gaetz and pushed him to find a resolution, according to a source familiar with the conversation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail a private discussion.
As the 15th ballot began, heads were spinning. “Madam clerk, I rise to say: Wow,” said Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), as he nominated Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) for speaker.
So say we all.
On the 15th ballot, Republicans Eli Crane (Ariz.), Bob Good (Va.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.) and Matthew M. Rosendale (Mont.) switched their votes from opposing McCarthy to “present,” joining Gaetz and Boebert, and allowing McCarthy to win with just 216 votes. Jeffries received 212 votes.
The days-long struggle to choose a speaker has raised fears across the Capitol that McCarthy may not be able to manage his narrow majority or effectively govern.
Ya think?
He will be the most powerless Speaker in American history, a figurehead, a puppet of the worst of the worst America has sent to D. C.
Americans, and America, will suffer.
Talk about minority rule. Now 6 GOP Representatives hold enough power to crash the US economy (see debit limit) and undermine US foreign policy (see Ukraine aid). Way to go Kevin!
From CNN:
When the big winner is an alleged sex trafficker, all is right in the country, amirite?
Commentor Geminid over at BJ has dubbed him “Squeaker McCarthy”. I think it rather apt.
It’s not finished tho. It will never be finished. The infighting, backstabbing, and circular firing squads will be epic.
Next up, rules and committee seats. Lots of speculation already showing up. My favorites this morning are: (a) one of the less-extreme Republicans supposedly saying, “Kevin promised the Freedom Caucus a bunch of rules changes. That doesn’t mean he can actually deliver them.”; and (b) a rumor that Gaetz’s price was chair of the Armed Services Committee, and the member who had to be restrained from attacking Gaetz was the person who was previously in line for that.
Given that the public seldom pays much attention to inside the beltway politics, though enough noise from major disputes typically penetrates the inattention. I wonder how this has played out with the voters. MAGAts are elated of course, while Dems and the professional classes are clutching pearls. The interesting group is the one that ranges from typical R voters who aren’t MAGAt to the occasional voter that sometimes votes Dem.
@OzarkHillbilly:
“Squeaker McCarthy”
In the sense that he has the courage of a mouse?
I would say “this will be fun to watch,” but in reality it won’t be. This is going to be disturbing for anyone who understands what the role of governing is, because a speakership that has been gutted of all authority to get things done is nothing more than a figurehead.
Self-castration in pursuit of a title is certainly interesting.
Elsewhere, I’ve seen it described as “Mike Rogers lunges at” etc. And then there are the strategic still frame shots making it appear like a melee.
This is not serious journalism.* Watch the video. Rogers ambles down the aisle. Leans in to make sure his (likely choice) words could be heard. And then is grabbed from behind and across the face by some other guy.
If anyone behaved aggressively, it was the “some other guy.” And yet, to amp the drama, we get reporters and photographers acting like reality tv producers. Murray Edelman had it right.
*To be fair, we are not a serious audience.
@Moosebreath: He did not say but I think it refers to him winning by just squeaking by.
@Mimai: Granted, interpretations vary, but while I don’t think that Rogers was going to hit McCarthy, I think your interpretation is rather generous.
(And I watched it live and then saw several clips after the fact).
What happened was not normal.
To be fair, Gaetz is a total Backpfifengesicht
There’s a huge possibility they will crash and burn quickly. None of what Gaetz cares about is even remotely interesting to normal people. It’s like Benghazi to the nth degree. Just complete banality and tedium crossed with far-right paranoia. They are fundamentalist white Christians scouring the Bible for clues for what hour and minute the world was created and why black people are inferior to whites.
@Steven L. Taylor: I very much agree that this (all of it) was not normal. It was absurd, sad, and lots of other things.
I’m not sure what you mean when you say my interpretation is “generous.” What would be an “ungenerous” interpretation? That Rogers was going to kneebar him? Now that would entertain (and delight) me!
To be sure, Rogers appeared miffed. It’s just that this framing (literally and figuratively) of some violent encounter barely averted seems at odds with the full video. I grant that opinions can reasonably vary.
I hold firm that we are not a serious audience.
@Mimai: I got the impression while watching it live that Rogers may have said something threatening, and the guy behind him covered his mouth because he knew there were cameras on them. I don’t think a donnybrook was actually going to break out, but I do think that Rogers was aiming for the “hold me back” method of confrontation.
Regardless, McCarthy was obviously flustered and frustrated, and Gaetz acted like the frat boy tool he is. So, you know, no winners here, just a pile of craven idiots yelling at each other
in a parking loton the floor of the House.Really need a lip-reading of the exchange, because they were definitely wide-mouthed enough to do that from a distance.
Well, Kevin McCarthy got the above “This is my moment of triumph” photo that he so desperately wanted. Matt Gaetz got to feel like he is a kingmaker instead of an animated grease stain. All we can say for certain is that the next two years will not be pretty on the hill.
When small men begin to cast big shadows, it’s a sure sign the sun is setting…
I am disappointed with the Q caucus and the Never Kevins for folding so quickly. Never is apparently just a three day delay.
Hopefully they tear each other to ribbons passing the rules.
And if the one-member-to-call-a-motion-to-vacate-the-chair remains, I want those motions at least weekly.
@ptfe:
This is a really good point. I hadn’t considered that.
Your point about the “hold me back” nature of it all also seems relevant, in the general if not this particular. Politics — and spaces where politics are discussed 😉 — increasingly resemble a middle school cafeteria. Actually, that’s probably ungenerous to middle schoolers.
I’m wondering what the emotions are like among the KMcC loyalists as they watched The Big Dumb Stiff trade away god knows what concessions to a handful of tantrum-tossing toddlers. What was the point of being loyal? Why bother? The next time Gaetz acts up, KMcC will be very alone.
I give it until next Thursday, then the fun really begins.
@anjin-san:
This is a remarkably poetic statement that I now cannot stop thinking about.
@Gustopher:
Maybe because they achieved/obtained what they really were after.
LINK
https://yastreblyansky.blogspot.com/2023/01/narratology-what-they-want-from-kevin.html#more
@Jen:
It’s a quote from Lin Yutang, a 20th-century Chinese novelist (among other accomplishments). I saw it used in a Nixon-era political cartoon depicting Nixon & Agnew casting long shadows as the sun set. It’s stayed with me all these years. I’m thinking that I need to read one of his books…
@anjin-san:
Oh yes, oh yes you sh*#!d. Careful though, you might fall down a rabbit hole, not to be heard from in quite a long while.
I’ve been thinking of him as “Mouthpiece of the House” myself. “Squeaker” is pretty good, though.
I have a hard time understanding why it is unthinkable that someone running for speaker can’t and won’t reach out across party lines. I’m perplexed that the Republican party would want to be help hostage by their worst counterparts.
@HelloWorld!:
“I’m perplexed that the Republican party would want to be help hostage by their worst counterparts.”
It’s a symptom of the distressingly short distance between the best and the worst of today’s GOP…