Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) fell short of the votes needed to become speaker of the House for a seventh time as he and his allies continue to negotiate with the 20 Republicans blocking McCarthy from the speakership.
Negotiations progressed Wednesday night but had not concluded when the House gathered at noon, leading the vote totals to remain virtually the same despite a number of concessions McCarthy made in the late hours of Wednesday.
‘NO PLAN B’: HOUSE REPUBLICAN CRITICIZES PLANS TO BLOCK MCCARTHY SPEAKERSHIP BID
The 20-person faction is divided into a few members who won’t vote for McCarthy for any reason on personal grounds and those who want more rules concessions and would consider supporting him under the right circumstances.
Democrats are only voting for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), while Republican detractors backed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Tuesday and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) on Wednesday. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) broke with the other holdouts to vote for former President Donald Trump on the seventh ballot.
Rep. John James (R-MI) nominated McCarthy for speaker, while Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) nominated Donalds. Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), the incoming House Democratic Caucus chairman, nominated Jeffries, as he has on all subsequent rounds.
Among the concessions McCarthy made to the GOP holdouts are lowering the threshold of members necessary to bring forward a motion to depose a speaker and placing House Freedom Caucus members in powerful committee positions.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Walking to the House chamber, McCarthy told reporters that he didn’t have the votes yet but that the two sides will “keep working until we solve it.”
“We’re going to go in there, we’re going to have the votes, nothing is going to change. What we’re doing is having really good progress,” he said Thursday.
