McCarthy Suffers Historic Rebuff As Voting For U.S. House Speaker Drags Out

The dramatic roll call vote marked the first time since 1923 that a House speaker wasn’t selected on the first ballot.

1:14 AM IST, 04 Jan 20231:14 AM IST, 04 Jan 20231:14 AM IST, 04 Jan 20231:14 AM IST, 04 Jan 2023

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Representative Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, departs following a House Republicans caucus meeting at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. McCarthy's chances of becoming House speaker remained in doubt hours before Republicans formally take control of the chamber with Republicans holding only a slender majority when the new Congress convenes today. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy failed to win the speakership in the first round of voting Tuesday as a small group of party dissidents delivered a stunning political rebuke to the California Republican that previews potential turmoil in the chamber over the next two years.

The dramatic roll call vote marked the first time since 1923 that a House speaker wasn’t selected on the first ballot. The House will continue to vote until someone wins a majority. The chamber can’t conduct any other business until that’s done.

McCarthy said earlier in the day that he anticipated the outcome as a faction of ultra-conservative pressed their demands for more power. He vowed he wouldn’t back down.

“I have the record for the longest speech ever on the floor,” McCarthy said before the vote. “I don’t have a problem getting a record for the most votes for speaker.”

McCarthy, 57, won backing from most Republicans — 203 out of 222, in the unofficial tally — but that wasn’t enough to win the majority of the entire House, given the GOP’s narrow margin of control. Arizona Representative Andy Biggs was the nominee of the McCarthy opponents.

Democrats cast their ballots for their leader, New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries, giving him 212 votes.

McCarthy was nominated by Republican Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, a member of his leadership team. She credited McCarthy as the driver of the Republican campaign that won them House control in the midterm elections.

McCarthy’s backers said they expected him to eventually prevail, but the turmoil is bound to embolden the dissident Republicans and make it much harder for the speaker to lead the chamber and rally the party around legislative priorities. It also portends deadlock in Congress as it approaches critical deadlines to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and keep the government funded later this year.

It also illustrates the battle over the direction of the GOP between swing-district moderates and conservatives who have taken up the populist agenda of former President Donald Trump.

--With assistance from and .

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