Yesterday was a bad day for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) when, after three votes, he fell short of the support he needed from his party to give him another term as a feckless, weak, and ineffective Speaker of the House.
It’s the first time in 100 years a Speaker has not been chosen on the first ballot.
The 19 holdouts, Republicans, have instead championed either Representative Andy Biggs (R-Az.), nominated by Paul Gosar (R-Az.), and Representative Jim Jordan (R-Oh.), nominated by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
Moments before the vote, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told the media that most members “take no joy in this discomfort this moment has brought,” adding, “If you want to drain The Swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise!”
Gaetz gave an impassioned speech for his conservative colleague Rep. Jim Jordan on the House floor in advance of yesterday’s vote:
The 19 Republican conservative lawmakers derailed McCarthy’s first and second votes to become Speaker, throwing the party further into chaos on their first day in the majority.
The group of dissenters put their weight behind GOP Rep. Jim Jordan in the second ballot of the process, leaving the start of Congress in limbo.
But the third round of votes saw McCarthy’s hopes of the top spot in the House shrink even further, with at least one more Republican voting against him.
Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds switched his vote in the latest tally, dropping McCarthy in favor of joining the conservatives who backed Jordan.
Rep. Matt Gaetz has been very vocal about his frustration over the party’s desire to repeat history by electing a “Paul Ryan-lite” as the next speaker.
The moment Republicans finally have the opportunity to take the majority back from the most reckless and lawless group of Democrats in American history, they immediately squander it by placing the bipartisan, deal-cutting, lobbyist darling Kevin McCarthy, and Rep. Gaetz is not about to let that happen without a fight. So yesterday, Rep. Gaetz sent the 12th Architect of the Capitol a letter asking for Kevin McCarthy to be removed from the speaker’s office until House members choose the next speaker. In his letter, Gaetz refers to McCarthy as a “squatter.”
What is the bases in law, house, rule, or president to allow someone who has placed second and three successive speaker elections to occupy the speaker of the house office? How long will he remain there before he is considered a squatter?
Gaetz also asked for a prompt response to his letter, reminding the office of the Architect of the Capitol that McCarthy can no longer be considered Speaker-Designate after yesterday’s vote.
While Rep. Gaetz is asking his fellow lawmakers to elect Rep. Jim Jordan as the next speaker, Jim Jordan asked his fellow members to elect Kevin McCarthy as their next speaker:
