The US House Speaker was selected after four days and fifteen rounds of voting on Friday night ending an impasse that the US Congress witnessed for the first time in 159 years.
Rogers v. Gaetz pic.twitter.com/fMe9uaTu37— Ron Filipkowski ???????? (@RonFilipkowski) January 7, 2023
Republican Kevin McCarthy won with 216 votes, earning him the slimmest majority and – as some western media outlets would put it – bringing him the title of a ‘weakened’ speaker.
McCarthy made several concessions to win over 14 of the 20 holdouts, exposing that moderate, right-leaning and far-right Republicans have divided the party.
McCarthy: That was easy huh pic.twitter.com/FZ5DrHGeD5— Acyn (@Acyn) January 7, 2023
However, the far-right within the party appeared to be the ones who would not flinch. Until the end, six holdouts led by Florida Republican Matt Gaetz remained in the ‘Never Kevin’ camp.
Rebel Gaetz
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy found it hard to convince Matt Gaetz who voted ‘Present’ lowering McCarthy’s tally. Videos on social media showed McCarthy going to Gaetz’s seat on the House floor and engaging in a heated debate.
McCarthy confronted Gaetz and Gaetz responded by not voting for McCarthy on the 14th ballot.
The videos of the incidents were shared by tweeter and American influencer Acyn.
Wow McCarthy goes right to Gaetz and this conversation didn’t end well pic.twitter.com/Nbh6PdA40P— Acyn (@Acyn) January 7, 2023
The situation got heated up as Republican Mike Rogers of Alabama started to charge toward Gaetz before another Republican, Richard Hudson, physically restrained him.
“Stay civil!” someone shouted, the Associated Press said in its report.
According to a report by the New York Times, Gaetz alleged that McCarthy stole parts of himself and “Lebron James of special interest fund-raising”.
Concessions Made
Kevin McCarthy made some important concessions in order to gather the required support for his speakership bid. McCarthy acquiesced to the ‘Never Kevin’ brigade’s demand on ‘vacate the chair’ allowing a single lawmaker to make a motion to “vacate the chair,” essentially calling a vote to oust the speaker.
Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did away with the rule but her successor was now forced to reinstate it, reminding the Republicans of an infamous episode dating back to 2015 when a rebellion forced the ouster of Republican Frank Boehner, the 53rd House Speaker, using the motion to “vacate the chair”.
Several other obscure concessions like expanding the number of seats available on the House Rules Committee, mandating 72 hours for bills to be posted before votes and seeking constitutional amendments imposing federal limits on the number of terms a person could serve in the House and Senate were also made by Kevin McCarthy.
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