Although he did not convince everyone in his own party, Kevin McCarthy was the most predictable candidate among the Republicans to become president of the US Congress. after years leading the party in this chamber, but nothing went as expected the first time, and has ended up making history.
It took him fifteen votes to be elected after some twenty ultra Republicans refused to support him. It had been exactly a century since a ‘speaker’ -as the president of the Lower House is known in English- was not elected on the first ballot.
McCarthy comes to the presidency of the House of Representatives with a questioned leadership, but with the firm intention of becoming the scourge of Democrat Joe Biden
Finally, McCarthy obtained the necessary votes to reach the presidency of the chamber shortly after midnight on Saturday, thanks to the abstention of six of those radical Republicans and after the rest up to twenty were changing throughout Friday the sign of your vote in favor of him.
On the fifteenth ballot, McCarthy ended up winning with 216 votes, compared to 212 for Democratic candidate Hakeem Jeffries. Thus, McCarthy comes to the presidency of the House of Representatives with questioned leadership, but with the firm intention of becoming the scourge of Democrat Joe Biden in his last two years in office in the White House.
The differences between his supporters -grouped under the label ‘Only Kevin’ (Only Kevin)- and his detractors –’Never Kevin’ (Kevin never)- reflects the internal quarrels that he has had to overcome and that he will have to reconcile from now.
Members of the Freedom Caucus, who are part of the most right wing of the Republican Party, had criticized McCarthy for not having negotiated with them a reform of the debate rules or the names to lead the congressional committees in the new legislature.
Biden congratulates McCarthy on his election
For his part, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, this Saturday congratulated the Republican legislator, Kevin McCarthy, on his election and offered him a hand to collaborate.
In a statement, Biden reiterated, as he already said after the midterm elections last November in which the conservatives regained control of the Lower House, that he is prepared to work with the Republicans.
“Now that the leadership of the House of Representatives has been decided, it is time for that process to begin.“, encouraged the president, who recalled that in the two years of his term, things have been done for the country thanks to the collaboration of Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
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After four days and fifteen votes, McCarthy was elected president of the Lower House last night, replacing Democrat Nancy Pelosi, after his party’s victory in that chamber in the November elections.
McCarthy’s election has been blocked these days by the opposition of some twenty ultra Republicans who had a series of demands to support him, such as being able to make a motion of censure against the president of the chamber, several chairs in the rules committee, the head in several subcommittees and having relevance within the Assignments Committee, one of the most powerful in the chamber, among others.
After hours and hours of lobbying, the wayward Republicans have been changing the sign of their vote this Friday, to the point that the majority of them supported McCarthy in the last round and six abstained.
EFE
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