McCarthy had made far-reaching concessions to his opponents in the ranks of his Republicans on Thursday night. However, this did not change the rejection of his candidacy by the representatives of the ultra-right wing of the party.
On the seventh, eighth, and ninth votes, as before, 21 of his 221 Republican counterparts dissented. But McCarthy can only afford four dissenters in his own ranks to gain the necessary majority.
McCarthy’s Republican supporters remain hopeful that bringing back votes down to single digits in upcoming voting rounds could put pressure on remaining holdouts to follow suit. On the other hand, there are fears that the risky strategy of giving free rein to the most extreme section of the party will eventually lead to a negative reaction from moderate Republicans.
The election marathon in the House of Representatives is a debacle for the opposition Republicans, who have held a majority in the Congress Chamber since the midterm elections in the fall. Even if McCarthy were ultimately elected, it would be an embarrassment of historic proportions: a hundred years ago, more than one round of voting was needed to elect a chairman at the inaugural session of the House of Representatives in 1923.
Even for 160 years there had not been nine votes in the election of the “speaker”. In 1856, Congress took two months and 133 ballots to reach an agreement. Republican Congressman John James from the US state of Michigan called on his colleagues to get behind McCarthy. There is “no doubt that the problems that divide us today are far less serious than those that we had in 1856,” he said.
The blocking of the election has concrete consequences: Without a chairman, the MPs cannot be sworn in, form committees and start drafting legislation. The election is repeated until a candidate achieves a simple majority in the House of Representatives.
The office of Speaker of the House is the third highest in the United States governmental hierarchy, after the President and Vice President. McCarthy wants to succeed Democrat Nancy Pelosi in the post.
