Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., listens during the second round of voting for the next Speaker of the House on the opening day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed to become House speaker in the first rounds of votes Tuesday, marking a historic defeat.
McCarthy, the first House speaker nominee in 100 years to fail in the first round, needed 218 votes to win the speakership position and secured just 203, with 19 Republicans voting against him. He failed again in the second and third rounds.
Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz from Florida has been one of the most vocal opponents of McCarthy, voting against him Tuesday.
"Those of us who will not be voting for Kevin McCarthy today take no joy in this discomfort that this moment has brought," Gaetz said Tuesday ahead of the votes. "If you want to drain the swamp you can’t put the biggest alligator in control of the exercise."
The House can’t swear in lawmakers, establish rules for the next two years, or pass new legislation, until a speaker is elected.
The last time a speaker election went to multiple ballots was in 1923. That year, it took nine rounds before a speaker was chosen.
McCarthy has vowed he would fight for the position as long as it takes.
"We may have a battle on the floor, but the battle is for the country and the conference and that’s fine with me," McCarthy told reporters Tuesday.
The U.S. Senate, circumventing holds by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, on Thursday confirmed the nominations of two senior military leaders, including the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Using sidewalks as exam rooms and heavy red duffle bags as medical supply closets, volunteer medics spend their Saturdays caring for the growing number of migrants arriving in Chicago without a place to live.
Israeli troops advanced toward Gaza City on Thursday, as the Palestinian death toll rose above 9,000. With no end in sight after weeks of heavy fighting, U.S. and Arab mediators intensified efforts to ease Israel's siege of the Hamas-ruled enclave and called for at least a brief halt to the hostilities in order to aid civilians.
Rep. George Santos easily survived a vote Wednesday to expel him from the House as most Republicans and 31 Democrats opted to withhold punishment while both his criminal trial and a House Ethics Committee investigation proceed.
Former President Donald Trump's two sons, Eric and Donald Jr., are set to take the stand in the ongoing civil fraud trial against Trump and his companies. Trump Jr. is expected to testify Wednesday.
