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 Israeli military said Monday that at least 199 hostages were taken back in Gaza, higher than previous estimates.
Republicans chose Rep. Jim Jordan as their new nominee for House speaker on Friday during internal voting, putting the gavel within reach of the staunch ally of GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
American citizens in Israel can start leaving the country on charter flights starting Friday after the State Department said flights will take Americans and immediate family members to either Athens, Greece or Frankfurt, Germany.
The Israeli military has ordered the 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza to evacuate to the south within 24 hours as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel.
The U.N. says Israel’s military has told some 1 million Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate the north.
Republican Steve Scalise has ended his bid to become House speaker after failing to secure the votes to win the gavel.
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey faced a new charge Thursday that he conspired to act as an agent of the Egyptian government, a remarkable accusation against a Democrat who had a powerful role in U.S. policy as head of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee.
An Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip would further escalate the war raging since Hamas launched its unprecedented attack, killing hundreds of civilians.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin assured Israel that “we have your back” as he and America’s top diplomat met Friday with Israeli and Arab leaders.
A retired bank official testified that former president Donald Trump obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in loans based on financial statements that have since been deemed fraudulent.
