Donald Trump urged rebel Republicans to vote for their party leader, Kevin McCarthy, as Speaker when Congress resumes today after blocking him during a public display of infighting yesterday.
Trump advised the 20 rebels to “take the victory and run!!!” in posts on his social media platform, setting up today’s votes as a test of loyalty to him as well as to the party.
President Biden also weighed in, calling the spectacle of hard-right Republicans refusing to go along with 90 per cent of their colleagues “embarrassing” and seeking to contrast the paralysis with his action to repair US infrastructure. He will visit a bridge today that has become a cause célèbre for renovation in Kentucky, alongside Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate who represents the state and is a sworn enemy of Trump.
Republicans won a slim majority in the House of Representatives in November’s midterms, with critics pointing to Trump’s continued insistence that the 2020 was rigged as a factor on depressing the size of the victory, handing an outsize influence to the party’s extremist faction.
Trump, who endorsed McCarthy for Speaker last year, showed he was still in his corner, posting: “Some really good conversations took place last night, and it’s now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY, & WATCH CRAZY NANCY PELOSI FLY BACK HOME TO A VERY BROKEN CALIFORNIA.”
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He added: “REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT. IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT. Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB — JUST WATCH.”
Speaking as he boarded his flight to Kentucky, Biden said: “The rest of the world is looking … this is not a good look. I am focused on is getting things done”
•Analysis: Refuseniks make party look inept
Yesterday, after three rounds of inconclusive voting, the House of Representatives adjourned without choosing a new presiding officer for the first time in a century, despite weeks of backroom arm-twisting to try to find the votes.
It was a historic failure for McCarthy, 57, a California congressman who has led his party in the chamber since 2014, and plunged the House into paralysis. No business can be conducted until a Speaker is elected.
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“We stay in it ’til we win . . . it will eventually change,” McCarthy said, pledging to keep holding votes until his opponents caved in. But their number increased slightly over the three ballots, from 19 to 20; the Democrats enjoying their rivals’ disarray.
On the first two votes McCarthy won 203 votes with 19 for other candidates, fewer than the Democratic candidate, Hakeem Jeffries, on 212 and short of the 218 needed for the gavel. On the third vote, his tally slipped to 202.
The 20 mainly hard-right opponents from the ultraconservative Freedom caucus backed a founder of the group, Jim Jordan, but he insisted he did not want the job. Jordan, who was promised the chairmanship of the judiciary committee by McCarthy, proposed him for Speaker in a short speech before the second vote.
Members will return today for further votes and the final outcome to the drama remains uncertain. McCarthy is refusing to step aside and no viable alternative Republican candidate has come forward.
The rebels owe their strength to the slim Republican majority of 222 to 212 seats, putting them in a position to call the shots. Mainstream Republicans backed McCarthy’s battle to bring his restive faction into line. “This is a lot more important than about one person,” Doug Heye, a former Republican leadership aide, said. “It’s about whether Republicans will be able to govern.”
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McCarthy’s supporters, who make up the vast majority of Republican members, grew increasingly angry with the refuseniks in their ranks as both sides vowed to dig in for a fight that could last days. Many were exasperated that the spectacle undermined an election battle cry of the party to put an end to the dysfunction in Washington.
During a heated meeting before the first vote, McCarthy was heard shouting “I’ve earned this job” at recalcitrant members, but his switch from attempting to meet their demands to threatening them only seemed to harden their position. Rebels said they had been threatened with being kicked off committees unless they backed down.
Over the past few weeks he has offered a series of significant concessions, including making it much easier to remove him and also focusing the party’s agenda for the next two years even more than was already planned on aggressive attacks on the Democrats.
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He was originally nominated by Elise Stefanik, chairwoman of the House Republicans, who said Americans wanted relief from the border crisis, rampant inflation and rising energy costs. “The people across this great nation spoke loudly and clearly that they wanted a new direction . . . to stop this radical far-left agenda, to hold Joe Biden accountable and to save the United States of America,” she said. “Under Kevin McCarthy’s leadership, House Republicans have drafted a bold vision to put our nation back on track.”
Matt Gaetz, a staunch pro-Trump congressman and one of the most outspoken rebels, portrayed McCarthy as a creature of the Washington swamp that the Maga (Make America Great Again) wing of the party has vowed to drain. “We do not want to be here. We would prefer to have a unity of purpose but we will not continue to allow the uni-party to run this town,” he said. “If you want to drain the swamp you can’t put the biggest alligator in control of the exercise.” There were reports he had privately indicated he would rather have a Democrat than McCarthy.
Jeffries, who replaced Nancy Pelosi as leader of the House Democrats, was nominated for Speaker by Pete Aguilar, who emphasised the unity of the Democrats in contrast to their rivals.
“House Democrats are united by a [proposed] Speaker who will put people over politics,” Aguilar said. “He does not traffic in extremism. He does not grovel to or make excuses to a twice-impeached so-called former president. He does not bend a knee to anyone who would seek to undermine our democracy because that is not what leaders do.”
Key players to watch in the new House
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Jim Jordan
A founder and first chairman of the ultra-conservative House freedom caucus, Jordan, is a former wrestler from Ohio who is close to Donald Trump and was expected to chair the judiciary committee. Jordan, 58, will bring his combative style to inquiries into crime, immigration and civil liberties. Key topics will include the FBI’s handling of the search for documents at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida residence, President Biden’s immigration policies and the origins of the pandemic. “That will frame up the 2024 race,” he told activists last year. “And we need to make sure [Trump] wins.”
James Comer
The former cattle farmer and Kentucky state agriculture commissioner was expected to chair the oversight and reform committee. Comer said one of his priorities would be investigating the business dealings of Hunter Biden, the president’s son, to “determine whether these activities compromise US national security and Biden’s ability to lead with impartiality”. Comer, 50, said that the committee, with a staff of 70, could conduct 40 to 50 inquiries into areas including policing the border with Mexico and government spending in the pandemic.
Michael McCaul
The former prosecutor who was deputy attorney-general of Texas before entering the House in 2005 is expected to become chairman of the foreign affairs committee and focus on investigating America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. McCaul, who chaired the homeland security committee from 2013 to 2019, has already asked for documents from the White House and State Department. “The way it was done was such a disaster and such a disgrace to our veterans that served in Afghanistan. They deserve answers,” McCaul, 60, told ABC. “Why wasn’t there a plan to evacuate? How did it go so wrong?”
Matt Gaetz
The member from a pro-Trump Florida district is a leading light of the hard-right faction that opposed Kevin McCarthy becoming Speaker and will be a thorn in the side of the Republican leadership. Gaetz, below, a lawyer, is popular with the Maga (Make America Great Again) base for his anti-establishment rhetoric. He will have an outsized influence on the next two years in Congress because of the slim Republican majority in the House. Steve Bannon, a former senior adviser to President Trump, described Gaetz, 40, as the “de facto” Speaker.
