WASHINGTON — House Republicans delivered Kevin McCarthy a stunning defeat in the chamber’s fourth vote for speaker Wednesday.
Former President Donald Trump’s series of social media posts Wednesday morning calling for members to back the GOP leader seemed to have no effect on the outcome.
Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin became the fourth Republican to nominate McCarthy, of California, for speaker. But for the fourth time, a conservative Republican nominated a McCarthy alternative, with Rep. Chip Roy of Texas rising to nominate Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida.
The 20 Republicans who had opposed McCarthy in the third vote Tuesday all supported Donalds on the fourth ballot. That group included Donalds, who cast a vote for himself after backing McCarthy on the first and second ballots and supporting Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio on the third.
Trump and President Joe Biden weighed in on the chaotic beginning of the new Congress on Wednesday morning, but neither appeared to have enough influence to resolve the weekslong standoff within the House GOP.
Although some Republicans may agree with Biden’s assessment that the long battle for the speakership is “embarrassing,” no Republican in the chamber is taking cues from a Democratic president.
But Trump’s endorsement of McCarthy risks making the former president look as weak among House Republicans as McCarthy appears to be among the 20 members who have opposed him for speaker. Indeed, Trump put his grip on House Republicans to the test when he called on every member of the conference to support McCarthy for speaker, a powerful position that would make McCarthy second in line for the presidency behind the vice president.
Trump posted on Truth Social just hours ahead of the House’s fourth attempt to elect a speaker. McCarthy came up short in his first three attempts to win the post Tuesday, seeing his support erode by one on the final ballot. On that vote, Donalds switched his support to Jordan, who — despite nominating McCarthy for speaker — received six votes on the first ballot, 19 on the second and 20 on the third.
“(I)t’s now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY,” Trump wrote. “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!”
In a follow-up post, Trump argued that Republicans “ought to be fighting” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, if they’re going to be fighting within the party at all. “The harm they have done to the Republican Party is incalculable,” Trump said.
McConnell, who became the longest-serving Senate leader in history Tuesday, is set to join Biden later Wednesday at an event in Covington, Kentucky, to celebrate the bipartisan infrastructure law.
The president told reporters outside the White House that he hopes Republicans “get their act together.”
“It’s a little embarrassing it’s taking so long — and the way they are dealing with one another,” Biden said. “The rest of the world is looking.”
It appears unlikely that Trump’s all-caps advice to House Republicans will move any votes in McCarthy’s favor. McCarthy left the floor Tuesday afternoon 16 votes shy of the majority needed to win the gavel, becoming the first majority party leader in a century not to win the speakership on the first ballot.
The historic defeat stalled members’ swearing-in, GOP committee assignments and a vote on the rules package that will ultimately govern the 118th Congress. Instead, House Republicans put their divisions on display throughout the afternoon, offering a stark contrast to their unified Democratic colleagues across the aisle and even the functioning Senate chamber on the other side of the Capitol.
And even as McCarthy was working the phones from the speaker’s office after the chamber adjourned Tuesday, some of his antagonists took issue. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., wrote a letter to the architect of the Capitol, asking, “How long will he remain there before he is considered a squatter?”
“Please write back promptly,” Gaetz added, “as it seems Mr. McCarthy can no longer be considered Speaker-Designate following today’s balloting.”
Trump, who launched an as-yet-underwhelming third run for the presidency in November, had declined to endorse McCarthy’s bid for speaker as recently as Tuesday night in a brief phone call with NBC News, telling a reporter: “We’ll see what happens. We’ll see how it all works out.”
