Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., listens during the second round of voting for the next Speaker of the House on the opening day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed to become House speaker in the first rounds of votes Tuesday, marking a historic defeat.
McCarthy, the first House speaker nominee in 100 years to fail in the first round, needed 218 votes to win the speakership position and secured just 203, with 19 Republicans voting against him. He failed again in the second and third rounds.
Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz from Florida has been one of the most vocal opponents of McCarthy, voting against him Tuesday.
"Those of us who will not be voting for Kevin McCarthy today take no joy in this discomfort that this moment has brought," Gaetz said Tuesday ahead of the votes. "If you want to drain the swamp you can’t put the biggest alligator in control of the exercise."
The House can’t swear in lawmakers, establish rules for the next two years, or pass new legislation, until a speaker is elected.
The last time a speaker election went to multiple ballots was in 1923. That year, it took nine rounds before a speaker was chosen.
McCarthy has vowed he would fight for the position as long as it takes.
"We may have a battle on the floor, but the battle is for the country and the conference and that’s fine with me," McCarthy told reporters Tuesday.
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy tried to sway Iowa voters during Wednesday night's CNN Republican presidential town hall in Des Moines.
A judge says Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case in Washington will be put on hold while the former president further pursues his claims that he is immune from prosecution.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will hear an appeal that could upend hundreds of charges stemming from the Capitol riot, including against former President Donald Trump.
The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday for a third straight time, and its officials signaled that they expect to make three quarter-point cuts to their benchmark rate next year.
Hunter Biden on Wednesday defied a congressional subpoena to appear privately for a deposition before Republican investigators who have been digging into his business dealings, insisting outside the U.S. Capitol that he will only testify in public.
