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The House failed to make GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy its speaker in a fourth round of ballots Wednesday, with 21 Republicans voting against the California Republican.
All Democrats voted for Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries while anti-McCarthy Republicans were mostly united behind Florida Rep. Byron Donalds.
Twenty Republicans have voted for Donalds, including the Florida Republican himself. One Republican, Rep. Victoria Spartz, switched her vote from McCarthy to ‘present.’
One day earlier the anti-McCarthy faction had united behind Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who is supportive of McCarthy, but now his name seems to be taken out of the running.
Ahead of the vote Texas Rep. Chip Roy, a staunch McCarthy defector, was seen huddling with Jordan on the House floor.
Donalds voted for himself in the race after voting for McCarthy in the first two ballots. On the third ballot of Tuesday he voted for Jordan, saying he realized McCarthy did not have the votes and needed to reevaluate.
The House looks poised to voted against making GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy its speaker in a fourth round of ballots Wednesday,
Rep. Chip Roy received a standing ovation even from Democrats as he nominated Donalds for speaker
Nineteen Republicans voted against the California Republican in the first two ballots on Tuesday and 20 did so on a third ballot. The House voted to adjourn as it became clear no progress was being made.
Rep. Mike Gallagher nominated McCarthy with a staunch defense of the Republican leader and a few jokes about needing popcorn to make it through the day’s chaos. ‘Gallagher for speaker!’ Rep. Matt Gaetz shouted as Gallagher got a standing ovation during his speech.
Roy received a standing ovation even from Democrats as he nominated Donalds for speaker, noting it was the first time two black candidates had been nominated for speaker in history.
As it becomes more clear the impasse is unlikely to break anytime soon, some have suggested McCarthy allies will soon try to negotiate a deal with Democrats.
Even Rep. Alexandira Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., suggested to MSNBC McCarthy could try to do a deal with Democrats.
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‘If he chooses to approach the Democratic Caucus, then that would be a negotiation, in and of itself, for a potential coalition government. But, again, this is very much an unprecedented time.’
Empty speaker’s chair is pictured above as the House remains at an impasse about who to seat there
An exasperated McCarthy watches on as he is about to lose a fourth vote for speaker
AOC also questioned whether a deal could include Democratic committee chairs and reiterated in an Instagram post that McCarthy should open talks across the aisle in order to secure the vote.
‘If this goes on, and on, and on, and the Republican Party has no speaker nominee, something has got to give,’ she said.
McCarthy can only afford to lose four Republican votes and become speaker, if all Democrats vote for Jeffries. But if a number of Democrats switch their vote to ‘present’ he could win with fewer than 218 votes.
McCarthy-allied Rep. Mike Rogers also suggested the GOP leader may have to do a deal with Democrats if the faction against him does not cave soon.
‘There’s a whole host of things that would be beneficial to them in the minority, that a lot of us would find more palatable than dealing with a couple of amendments or something like that,’ Rogers said. ‘This very malleable, the universe of things that that are negotiable. And that’s a real Avenue.’
He likened the anti-McCarthy GOP faction to ‘terrorists.’
‘You don’t negotiate with terrorists, whether they’re Islamic terrorists … or these people with, basically political gun. Kevin, you don’t negotiate those kinds of either legislative terrorists who have no problem killing the hostage,’ Rogers said.
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, seemed less keen on the idea.
‘I haven’t heard any offers or anything,’ he told DailyMail.com. ‘I just don’t know what they can offer that would be appealing to make Kevin McCarthy the speaker.’
