A monitor in Statuary Hall displays House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as he sits in the chamber at the start of a tenth ballot to elect a speaker of the House, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Capitol Hill faced another day of votes for the next House speaker as Kevin McCarthy failed to gain support in the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh rounds of voting.
Each of the Republican leader's attempts to win the speakership failed with 20 Republicans refusing to back him and another voting Present, even after the he made several concessions Wednesday evening.
McCarthy agreed to a rules change that would allow just one member to call for a vote to oust the speaker, a major concession that many defectors had asked for and initially something McCarthy had strongly opposed. He also agreed to allow more members of the Freedom Caucus to serve on the powerful House Rules committee.
The seventh and eight votes showed the reluctance of some defectors to ever support McCarthy as speaker.
“You never have to ask me again if I’m a no on Kevin McCarthy, I will never vote for Kevin McCarthy,” Rep. Bob Good, a consistent voter against McCarthy, told reporters Thursday morning. McCarthy can only afford to lose the support of four Republicans, given the slim majority they have.
But even after eight defeats, McCarthy has shown no signs of giving up the bid, in part not wanting to set a precedent that such a small faction of the party can have so much control.
The California Republican told reporters Thursday he was “confident” they would get to a solution and that lawmakers were having “good discussions,” but would not predict when he would have the votes by.
More than 90% of the people killed by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in western Afghanistan last weekend were women and children, U.N. officials reported Thursday.
Millions of Social Security recipients will get a 3.2% increase in their benefits in 2024, far less than this year's historic boost and reflecting moderating consumer prices.
Palestinians in Gaza lined up outside bakeries on Thursday after spending the night in pitch darkness surrounded by the ruins of pulverized neighborhoods, as Israel launched new airstrikes and said it was preparing for a possible ground invasion.
Republicans on Wednesday nominated Rep. Steve Scalise to be the next House speaker and will now try to unite around the conservative in a floor vote to elect him after ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the post.
The number of U.S. citizens confirmed to have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war has risen to at least 22 with at least 17 more Americans unaccounted for, the State Department said Wednesday. That's an increase in the death toll from 14 the day before, in a war that has already claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides.
The Israel-Hamas war is now in its fifth day with Israeli officials saying at least 1200 people have been killed in the country, including 150 soldiers. President Joe Biden has confirmed at least 14 Americans are among the dead.
