The US House of Representatives failed to break the deadlock for a third consecutive day to select the next speaker. The Republicans could not band together as nominee Kevin McCarthy lost the 10th ballot.
With the loss, the stage is set for an 11th ballot which makes it the longest-running speaker election contest, breaking a 164-year record.
While McCarthy managed to receive 201 votes yesterday, his tally dwindled by one on Thursday after Rep.-elect Ken Buck of Colorado was forced to leave the session for a medical appointment. He is not expected to be back till mid-day tomorrow or even later.
Notably, McCarthy needs to reach the magical figure of 218 to stake his claim to become the speaker. However, he cannot afford to lose more than four party colleagues, which unfortunately hasn’t been the case ever since the 118th Congressional session began on Tuesday.
The rebel group of far-right Republican leaders who have earned the nickname ‘Taliban 20’ have thrown a spanner in the election process. The renegades do not want McCarthy as the speaker and have used the razor-thin majority of Republicans in the House to their advantage.
GOP leader Matt Gaetz who has been leading the anti-McCarthyist crusade voted for Donald Trump during the ballots on Thursday, a day after calling the former president’s support for McCarthy ‘sad’.
“And so I nominate President Trump, because we must make our country great again, and he can start by making the House of Representative great again,” said Gaetz.
Without the election of a House speaker, Congress cannot work as no nominations can be confirmed, committees cannot be formed and legislations cannot be passed.
A result is highly unlikely and adjournment seems the best bet for McCarthy. Multiple reports have suggested that his side has made more concessions to the ‘Never Kevins’ but the fight for 218 remains chaotic as ever.
(With inputs from agencies)
