WASHINGTON — In the fourth vote in two days, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., again failed to secure enough support to win the U.S. House speakership.
The latest vote saw a core group of GOP holdouts nominate and vote for Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, a sophomore Republican lawmaker who on Tuesday had publicly shifted his support away from McCarthy. While the vote is still ongoing, enough Republicans have abandoned McCarthy to leave him shy of the 218 he needs to win the coveted seat.
Donalds and Democratic Speaker nominee Rep. Hakeem Jeffries together marked the first time that two black Americans have ever been nominated for House Speaker.
McCarthy appeared no closer early Wednesday to winning over the 20 members of his caucus who had refused to support him the day before. With 222 Republicans in the House, McCarthy can only afford to lose a handful of them to retain hope of winning the gavel.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is seen at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on December 21, 2022.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
Little appeared to have changed, publicly or privately, between Tuesday and Wednesday. Both McCarthy’s allies and his opponents delivered effectively the same message in interviews Wednesday that they have been for weeks: We’re not going to budge.
One exception to the stalemate was a fresh endorsement for McCarthy from former President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday afternoon had initially sounded an uncertain note about the political future of one of his most loyal allies in Congress.
“REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT,” Trump posted on his Truth Social website Wednesday morning. “IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT. Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB – JUST WATCH!”
Despite Trump’s broad support among conservative Republican voters, it was not clear his new endorsement would move the needle for any of the holdouts in Congress. While the group of 20 far-right Republicans are all close Trump allies, the former president’s name and his “America First” message have been notably absent from the intraparty GOP debate raging behind closed doors.
McCarthy himself was tight lipped Tuesday and into Wednesday, and he declined to give interviews or take his message to the airwaves or social media.
When asked Wednesday morning what his plan would be, NBC News reported that McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol, “Same game plan as yesterday.”
When a journalist asked how he would get more votes, McCarthy replied: “We’re sitting, we’re talking … I think we can get to an agreement.”
Instead, he authorized a handful of allies to negotiate with the holdouts, many of whom identify with the Freedom Caucus, a loosely organized 40+ member caucus led by Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Scott Perry, who is among the most outspoken opponents of McCarthy’s speaker bid.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.