"Former" House Speaker McCarthy

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McCarthy falls short in first vote for House speaker

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leader Kevin McCarthy was dealt a historic defeat in first-round voting Tuesday to become House speaker, vowing to try again but sending the new Congress into opening day tumult as conservative colleagues opposed his leadership.

https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-us-republican-party-united-states-house-of-representatives-kevin-mccarthy-8b1d6cdf0d75dfc95b195c301f9ae344

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McCarthy fails in marathon votes for speaker, House adjourns

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unable to elect Republican leader Kevin McCarthy as the new House speaker Tuesday, the Republicans adjourned for the day in disarray as the party tries to regroup from his a historic defeat after a long, messy start for the new Congress.

https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-us-republican-party-united-states-house-of-representatives-kevin-mccarthy-8b1d6cdf0d75dfc95b195c301f9ae344?

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McCarthy vows to stay in speaker’s race, with Trump backing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said late Tuesday there’s no scenario in which he’ll drop his bid to become House speaker despite failing to win multiple rounds of voting, a historic defeat that brought the first day of the new Congress to an abrupt, messy end.

https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-us-republican-party-united-states-house-of-representatives-kevin-mccarthy-8b1d6cdf0d75dfc95b195c301f9ae344?

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McCarthy rejected for House speaker with GOP in disarray

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans flailed through a second day of multiple balloting Wednesday, unable to elect their leader Kevin McCarthy as House speaker or come up with a new strategy to end the political chaos that has tarnished the start of their new majority.

https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-vote-updates-669e23dc963da9579ab10e4b3da78911?

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Byron Donalds emerges as GOP alternative for House speaker

MIAMI (AP) — As Republicans struggled for a second day to elect a House speaker, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida emerged as the choice of conservative holdouts who are refusing to support Kevin McCarthy’s bid.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-florida-byron-donalds-us-republican-party-kevin-mccarthy-4df9a1bfc27bea5fb6081275af465dee

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US House has no members, no rules as speaker race drags on

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Republicans continue to squabble over who will be the next speaker, there are essentially no members in the U.S. House of Representatives — only members-elect.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-house-of-representatives-us-republican-party-billy-long-5dc5377382e010d1071c7afbfb694f3b

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GOP’s McCarthy voted down time after time for House speaker

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans flailed through a long second day of fruitless balloting Wednesday, unable to either elect their leader Kevin McCarthy as House speaker or come up with a new strategy to end the political chaos that has tarnished the start of their new majority.

https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-vote-updates-669e23dc963da9579ab10e4b3da78911

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McCarthy fails for 3rd long day in GOP House speaker fight

WASHINGTON (AP) — For a long and frustrating third day, divided Republicans left the speaker’s chair of the U.S. House sitting empty Thursday, as party leader Kevin McCarthy failed and failed again in an excruciating string of ballots to win enough GOP votes to seize the chamber’s gavel.

https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-mccarthy-vote-updates-7657a07f1545bf53079c9c9f6cef3a45?

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‘A disaster’: Speaker fight exposes GOP leadership vacuum

NEW YORK (AP) — With House Republicans riven by infighting, unable to coalesce around a pick for speaker, former President Donald Trump had an emphatic message for the new GOP majority.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-us-republican-party-donald-trump-kevin-mccarthy-b6fedeb8ac7a3a543311626493e4943b?

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Against McCarthy: Hard-right members stage GOP rebellion

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republicans opposing Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become the next House speaker generally have made their mark as part of the GOP’s ultra-conservative wing, eager to pick a fight with leaders from both parties and rarely finding major bipartisan bills to be a good thing.

https://apnews.com/article/congress-mccarthy-hard-right-foes-5edc1d9468e606a3f1230e98702d9a23?

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McCarthy nears victory for speaker after grueling fight

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Kevin McCarthy flipped more than a dozen colleagues to support him in dramatic votes Friday for House speaker, nearing victory on the fourth day and 12th ballot of a grueling standoff that was testing American democracy.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-house-of-representatives-kevin-mccarthy-us-republican-party-0938c7358f41c83759246f8949ac7c15?

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2 years after Jan. 6, speaker scrap freezes Congress again

WASHINGTON (AP) — Such are the fractures in the country, between the political parties and inside the Republican Party itself, that one time-honored specialty of Washington — memorializing and coming together over national trauma — isn’t what it used to be.

https://apnews.com/article/jan6-capitol-riots-second-anniversary-8014969520b61bf7f4d86689fc16e7f7?

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As speaker bid falters, mixed views of McCarthy in hometown

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s political troubles don’t stop at the Washington Beltway.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-bakersfield-california-kevin-mccarthy-congress-5e355091d9f308b1b93a9faaec610d5a?

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McCarthy makes big gains for speaker, but he’s still short

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leader Kevin McCarthy flipped 15 colleagues to support him in dramatic votes for House speaker on Friday, making extraordinary gains on the fourth day and the 12th and 13th ballots of a historic standoff that was testing American democracy and the GOP majority’s ability to govern.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-house-of-representatives-kevin-mccarthy-us-republican-party-0938c7358f41c83759246f8949ac7c15?

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House Speaker vote: McCarthy clinches Speakership

The ]win came on the 15th ballot, after a long day and moments of drama and chaos on the House floor.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3802149-house-speaker-election-coverage-mccarthy-allies-hope-to-hammer-out-deal-on-day-4-of-stalemate/

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McCarthy elected House speaker in rowdy post-midnight vote

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Kevin McCarthy was elected House speaker on a historic post-midnight 15th ballot early Saturday, overcoming holdouts from his own ranks and floor tensions that boiled over after a chaotic week that tested the new GOP majority’s ability to govern.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-house-of-representatives-kevin-mccarthy-us-republican-party-0938c7358f41c83759246f8949ac7c15?

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Chaos in the House: McCarthy’s plea, and begging for votes

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was the extraordinary moment that brought House Republicans to the brink — and ultimately the moment they found their way back.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-kevin-mccarthy-matt-gaetz-florida-f2a4a42b4845f2413cca5c1b4c6100dd?

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Speaker McCarthy: A weakened leader or emboldened survivor?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Kevin McCarthy is the new House speaker, but as bruising as it was for him to seize the gavel in a history-making election, it may be even more difficult for the embattled leader to do much with the powerful position — or to even keep it.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-house-of-representatives-kevin-mccarthy-government-e986c620149b72030bb418bd5fadb4a2

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After Selling 'Soul to Sedition Caucus,' McCarthy Finally Elected Speaker

The final vote followed a dramatic 14th ballot vote in which tensions soared on the floor of the House chamber.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/mccarthy-elected-house-speaker?

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McCarthy’s next big task: Win GOP support for House rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — After an epic 15-ballot election to become House speaker, Republican Kevin McCarthy faces his next big test in governing a fractious, slim majority: passing a rules package to govern the House.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-kevin-mccarthy-house-of-representatives-4922d22689eb79d5d05c1b49ca733123?

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Good morning. Congressional gridlock brought on by far-right Republicans now seems more likely to lead to government shutdowns.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy.Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

More brinkmanship

The House speaker elections last week turned a typically routine government procedure into a dramatic affair. They also exposed a major vulnerability in Congress: A small segment of lawmakers can stop the process of basic governance to obtain what it wants, with potentially big ramifications for the country.

In the speaker fight, the immediate consequences were relatively small. A Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, is leading a majority-Republican House.

More critical is how Republicans got there. McCarthy made concessions that will weaken his power, make it easier for lawmakers to oust him and give the right-wing rank-and-file greater input in legislation and in lawmakers’ assignments to committees, where Congress does much of its work.

The graver consequences will unfold months from now if the ultraconservatives who prolonged the speaker selection again withhold their votes until they have their way on looming spending bills. Congress must pass such legislation to keep the government open and avoid economic calamity. If deadlines for these bills come and go without a resolution, the government could be forced to shut down or, worse, default on its debt obligations, likely triggering a financial crisis. (More on that later.)

The right flank has already connected its opposition to McCarthy to such spending bills. In speeches during the four-day speaker battle, far-right Republicans cited a $1.7 trillion spending bill Congress passed last month to argue that establishment figures, including McCarthy, have failed to reduce government spending. Among the concessions that ultraconservatives drew from McCarthy was a promise that any increase on the country’s debt limit, a congressionally set cap on the federal debt, will be paired with spending cuts.

Some hard-liners have been clear that they would take drastic action again to have their way on spending. “Is he willing to shut the government down rather than raise the debt ceiling? That’s a nonnegotiable item,” said Representative Ralph Norman, a Republican critic of McCarthy who ultimately voted for him.

Representative Matt GaetzHaiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Deliberate gridlock

The ultraconservatives have said that one of their main goals is to shrink the size of government. “If you don’t stop spending money that we don’t have to fund the bureaucracy that is undermining the American people, we cannot win,” said Representative Chip Roy, a Republican who voted against McCarthy in 11 ballots.

One way to achieve this goal is by pushing Congress toward inaction. Consider some of the assurances the holdout Republicans received from McCarthy: more time to read and debate legislation, as well as to propose unlimited changes to it.

In theory, these changes might sound like common sense, since legislators should, ideally, be taking time to understand and finalize bills. But in practice, these kinds of allowances have slowed Congress’s work, if not halted it altogether, by giving lawmakers more chances to stand in the way of any kind of legislation.

This roadblock is especially likely in a closely divided Congress. Since House Republicans have a slim majority of 222 votes out of 435, they must rely on their right-wing faction to reach a majority in any vote (absent unlikely support from Democrats). Last week, that faction showed it will wield its leverage.

“It’s all about the ability — empowering us to stop the machine in this town from doing what it does,” Roy said.

Coming deadlines

If the ultraconservatives use these tactics in future legislative debates, Congress could miss deadlines to keep the government open and avoid a financial crisis.

Among the looming fights is one over the debt limit. If the government ever reaches this limit, it can no longer borrow money to pay off its debts, potentially forcing a default. That could cause serious damage to the global financial system, which relies on U.S. Treasuries as a safe investment.

The government is expected to hit the current debt limit in late summer. Republicans have already suggested that they will try to use negotiations over raising it to draw spending concessions from Senate Democrats and the Biden administration, a tactic that conservatives used during Barack Obama’s presidency. But Democrats have said that they will not negotiate over the debt limit this time.

If both sides stick to their word, the government could be on track for the most treacherous debt-limit debate since 2011, my colleague Jim Tankersley reported. That year, Obama and a new Republican House majority nearly defaulted on the nation’s debt before reaching a deal.

Similarly, the government will have to pass a spending bill in September to remain open. Republicans have, again, suggested that they will use their control of the House to reduce government spending. Democrats have said that they will push back. If both sides fall short of an agreement, the government will shut down, halting or slowing functions like the payment of military salaries, environmental or food inspections and the management of national parks.

The battle over the speaker, then, is potentially a preview of what’s to come: a Congress unable to perform even its basic duties because a small segment of lawmakers are willing to say no.

More Congress news

History suggests that House Republicans’ plans are likely to bring more gridlock and instability, Carl Hulse writes. House Republicans are preparing to investigate law enforcement and national security agencies.

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How can people be so foolish? It is easy to see how reading and understanding a bill before putting your name to it is right wing extremism. I am sure most here sign contacts and read them after if at all

"In theory, these changes might sound like common sense, since legislators should, ideally, be taking time to understand and finalize bills. But in practice, these kinds of allowances have slowed Congress’s work, if not halted it altogether, by giving lawmakers more chances to stand in the way of any kind of legislation".

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McCarthy’s 21 Republican Defectors Didn’t Get Much

That’s because the party already agreed with them.

https://prospect.org/politics/2023-01-20-congress-mccarthy-republican-defectors/?

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Inside McCarthy’s House: Famous friends and hard realities

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an almost forgotten slice of marbled real estate at the Capitol, the Kevin McCarthy era is taking shape in Congress.

https://apnews.com/article/politics-us-republican-party-united-states-house-of-representatives-immigration-kevin-mccarthy-36aa10dcda14905880cd282a0f6d1928

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McCarthy's backbencher blowback

Frustrations from establishment House Republicans spilled out into the open today after right-wing lawmakers succeeded in blocking nearly a week’s worth of House votes, Axios' Andrew Solender reports.

• "The Dysfunction Caucus does what it does best," Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told Axios. "This hurts the GOP conference, Congress and the country."

Between the lines: One major source of frustration is a lack of clarity about what the McCarthy rebels are demanding as they push to reopen the deal they struck in January.

• Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) noted that the dynamic could worsen because "we're about to very possibly lose two members in the very near future."
• Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) plans to resign after an "orderly transition," while Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) is under federal indictment.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, asked at a press conference if he has heard frustrations from other parts of his conference about this dynamic, said: “Very much so.”

• “I’m fearful that people in the Republican Party are going to be frustrated” with the Freedom Caucus, he said. “I don’t want that to happen.”

Go deeper.