Kevin McCarthy is in the wildnerness as the House voted suddenly to adjourn Tuesday evening without reaching a consensus over who should serve as the chamber’s speaker.
Three rounds of voting concluded on Tuesday without a clear winner; Democrat Hakeem Jeffries was in the lead, thanks to a GOP split, but short of the 218 votes needed to secure the gavel. Mr McCarthy is set to make another attempt to win over conservatives in his party and secure the role on Wednesday, while far-right members of his party are clearly hoping a consensus will build around an alternative, such as Ohio’s Congressman Jim Jordan.
The House moved by voice vote to adjourn for the evening just after 5pm. Mr McCarthy had only seen his support chip away as the hours passed Tuesday, making it hard to chart a path to his victory going forward.
It was a stunning day of defeats for Mr McCarthy, who becomes the first leader of a major party’s caucus to lose on the first (and second, and third) ballot in more than 100 years.
He will now have to cobble together support from anti-McCarthy rebels and potentially Democrats, who could be swayed to vote in his favour in exchange for important committee assignments.
Donald Trump, previously a supporter of the California Republican, even declined to say whether he stood by his endorsement of Mr McCarthy after the votes concluded.
Democrats, meanwhile, pledged on Tuesday not to skip any future votes for the speaker’s gavel, a promise that if kept would prevent the GOP from cutting away at the number of votes needed to elect Mr McCarthy or another speaker.
Rep Jamaal Bowman told The Independent after the House adjourned that he was working to convince Black Republicans to vote for Mr Jeffries for speaker, though with little hope of success.
Allies of Mr McCarthy, meanwhile, blasted the GOP rebels as obstructionists without a plan as the vote headed towards its second day.
