by Nicholas Ballasy
The House of Representatives has adjourned for the evening after California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy failed to win the speaker’s gavel for the 11th time.
The speaker election started Tuesday but McCarthy has fallen short of reaching the simple majority threshold needed to win in the 222-212 GOP-led House.
The eleventh vote saw him secure 200 votes, while Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., secured 212. Former President Donald Trump received one vote, while Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern took 7. Twelve Republicans voted for another candidate.
Reports have begun to circulate that the holdout Republicans have been asked to review a prospective deal that is now “in writing,” with Republican South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman confirming it.
The tenth vote saw McCarthy secure 200 votes, while Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., secured 212. Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds received 13, and Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern took 7. Hern backed McCarthy.
The California Republican has already broken a 100-year record, as Frederick H. Gillett secured the post in the ninth round of voting in 1923.
McCarthy received 200 votes in the ninth round, with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., securing 212 and Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds receiving 17. Three of McCarthy’s GOP detractors backed Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern, who voted for McCarthy. McCarthy received one fewer vote because Colorado GOP Rep. Ken Buck didn’t cast a vote. In an interview on Thursday, Buck described U.S. House speaker as the “worst job in the world.”
In the seventh and eighth round, McCarthy received 201 votes.
McCarthy’s leadership team has been negotiating since Wednesday with the conservatives who oppose the California Republican in hopes of reaching an agreement. McCarthy had put several concessions on the table prior to the 7th round but it hasn’t been enough to put him over the top.
Just the News has learned that members of the House Freedom Caucus are meeting with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer to reach a deal that will secure enough votes for McCarthy. Despite this, some conservatives have put themselves in the “Never Kevin” camp.
“Kevin McCarthy has offered everything he can think to offer and everything we can think to ask for due to his current state of desperation, and I can’t tell you whether or not that will be enough to get him there. I doubt it will,” Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz told Fox News.
Gaetz voted for former President Trump for speaker in the 7th round. Trump has urged House Republicans to come together and vote for McCarthy.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Scott Perry has said there hasn’t been an agreement with the GOP holdouts.
“A deal is NOT done,” he wrote Thursday on Twitter. “When confidences are betrayed and leaks are directed, it’s even more difficult to trust. Totally unsat. I will not yield to the status quo.”
Michigan GOP Rep.-elect John James was lauded by many social media users as a rising GOP star for the speech he gave in support of McCarthy.
“Man — Rep. John James — a star is born,” wrote user @jurbanchuk, a former Capitol Hill staffer.
“Great speech by John James a rising star,” wrote Jim Weldin, chairman of the Colonial Region Republican Committee.
Jackson Richman of Mediate wrote that James is “amazing and will be a GOP star.”
“John James is a star in waiting. What a speech he just gave,” wrote user @benwren.
North Carolina Republican Rep. Dan Bishop nominated Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds in the 7th round.
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Nicholas Ballasy has been breaking news for more than a decade in the nation’s capital and questioning political leaders about the most pressing issues facing the nation.
Photo “Kevin McCarthy” by Kevin McCarthy.
