Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was elected the 55th Speaker of the House of Representatives after a prolonged and turbulent process. McCarthy replaces outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who retired after 20 years of leading the House Democrats following the loss of their majority to Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections. McCarthy, as expected, won the Republican nomination for Speaker of the House, defeating Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) in a 188-31 vote. The Democrats unanimously nominated Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). While it has been the norm for the political party to fall in line behind their nominee and elect them as Speaker, that was not the case for McCarthy. For the first time since 1923, the candidate failed to win on the first ballot for the speakership. After the first vote on Jan. 3, it took 14 additional ballots before he finally emerged triumphant.
“I think it was embarrassing how long it took them to come to a decision. It sets a bad precedent for House decisions to come, and a bad example for prospective politicians. I’m honestly afraid of the inaction that may come in the future,” said senior Amelia Abell.
McCarthy’s battle for the gavel was the result of fighting within the Republican party during the caucus, which is a meeting of the party where they selected a nominee. McCarthy was perceived as too moderate by far-right Republicans, most of whom belong to the Freedom Caucus, the most right-wing group of Republican representatives in Congress. Much of the opposition stemmed from the belief that McCarthy had not fought hard enough for the conservative movement. McCartthy is seen as being part of the “establishment,” which is regarded as the group of dominant forces controlling the Republican Party largely thought by the right wing as corrupt and bought out by special interests.
Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, one of the leading conservatives in America, had words for McCarthy, describing him as “Ideologically agnostic… his real constituency is to the Washington lobbying community.”
Carlson was not the only Republican to criticize McCarthy, as Representative Bob Good (R-VA) tweeted, “If McCarthy had fought as hard for the American people over the last two years as he has for the speakership, we would be having a very different discussion right now.”
Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) joined the party, stating during a nomination speech, “We need a leader that is not of the broken system, someone who is not beholden to the lobbyists, but to the people who sent us here.”
Not all Republicans were critical of McCarthy, however, and instead, were critical of his Republican opposers. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), an avid McCarthy supporter, publicly feuded with fellow Freedom Caucus member Boebert, accusing her of creating “drama” in an interview with CNN. Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) compared the actions of McCarthy attackers to “terrorism.” This prompted Tucker Carlson to label Crenshaw the “the snarling face of the donor class,” a reference to Crenshaw’s advocacy for neoconservatism, an ideology plagued by its ties to the military industrial complex and the defense contractors who fund it. Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich chastised the party in an interview with The Hill, remarking during an interview with Fox News that the party was, “in the greatest danger of meltdown than it’s been since 1964.”
Many Republican representatives in Congress had grown tired of the long voting process and urged for unity within the party. Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) took aim at the Freedom Caucus, and said the Speaker fiasco had him embarrassed. Seral other Republican representatives voiced their frustration, embarrassment, and even anger at the drawn out voting period, with many believing that it only served to hurt the party. Most notable of the tensions between McCarthy’s supporters and opponents was when Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL) had to be physically restrained in order to avoid a confrontation between him and outspoken McCarthy critic Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
In order to become Speaker of the House, one must secure the majority of the 434 representatives voting, making McCarthy’s magic number 218. 19 Republicans voted against him on the first day, putting him at 203, and after results remained unchanged for the first three ballots, the House adjourned until noon the next day. On Truth Social, former President Donald Trump attempted to secure more votes for McCarthy by urging Republican detractors to cease their opposition, posting “VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY.” McCarthy subsequently lost two votes, bringing his total down to 201. After 11 ballots and two more adjournments, conversations between McCarthy and hardliners hit a breakthrough, and on the fourth and final day of voting, he narrowly clinched victory with 216 votes. The six remaining dissenters voted present, bringing down the total votes to 428 from 434, so only 215 votes were required for a majority.
“It just seemed really strange that they had to take so many votes to settle on the person who everyone assumed was going to win anyway,” said junior Vaanya Hanif.
McCarthy was ultimately able to capture the Speaker’s gavel as a result of the several concessions he made to the conservative hardliners, lauded by Boebert as “historic victories.”
They included greater conservative representation in policy making and committees, a promise that the Congressional Leadership Fund would not spend in open Republican primaries in safe seats (ensuring that more right wing candidates would win and enter Congress), a requirement that any increase in the debt ceiling (which allows the government to borrow money to pay its debts) will result in spending cuts, and a rule change to require only one member to launch a vote on whether to remove the Speaker from office. Representative Bacon called this change a “terrible decision” due to the fear it will be used to “browbeat McCarthy into keeping crucial must-pass bills off the floor resulting in a heightened risk of shuttering the government,” according to The Hill.
The last two Republican speakers, John Boehner and Paul Ryan, resigned in part due to pressure exerted on them by far-right Republicans. The Hill has already reported that many Republican senators fear that McCarthy was weakened by the leadership battle in Congress, and many members of Congress await to see whether Speaker McCarthy will be able to unite House Republicans in the next two years.