the blockade continues in the Chamber; McCarthy without support among the radical Republican wing

The political chaos continued this Wednesday in the Lower House of the US Congress. Suspended on Tuesday afternoon, the debates to choose the ‘speaker’or Speaker of this House who will succeed Democrat Nancy Pelosi, resumed at 12:00 (local time), without reaching an agreement.

After heated debates and a sixth vote, a large majority of House Republicans again tried to impose Kevin McCarthy. However, the representative from California fell far short of the number of votes needed to secure the job.

The choice of ‘speaker’, the third most important political figure in the United States after the head of state and the vice president, requires a majority of 218 votes in favor. In all six rounds, McCarthy has failed to get past 203 votes.

In a night vote, the Chamber decided to postpone the seventh vote until Thursday at noon.

The blockade originates from strong dissensions in the ranks of the Republican majority and McCarthy’s candidacy is suspended by some twenty elected members of the most right wing of the party, who accuse him of being too moderate. Members of the most conservative band within the Republicans, these representatives, who have formed an informal group called the Freedom Caucus, take advantage of the very slim majority won by their party in the mid-term elections in November to set their conditions. Without your support, McCarthy cannot be elected.

However, the California representative, a member of the Republican staff for more than ten years, has already agreed to many of the group’s demands, but without being able to unblock the situation. Worse yet, opposition to his candidacy seems to be gaining strength.

The United States wants “a new face, a new vision, a new leadership,” argued the conservative representative of Texas, Chip Roy. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a conservative from Colorado, called on former President Donald Trump to demand that McCarthy resign.

But earlier on Wednesday, Trump did the opposite and urged Republicans to vote for McCarthy. “Close the deal and achieve victory,” he wrote in all caps on his social network. “Republicans, don’t turn a huge win into a gigantic, embarrassing loss,” he added. But apparently the former president, whose reputation as a kingmaker has been compromised of late, was unable to convince this radical group either.

A Serious Fissure in the Republican Party

It is the first time in more than a century that a candidate for House speaker has not won on the first ballot. However, this unprecedented situation does not seem to worry McCarthy, who, on the contrary, has promised to fight to the end.

But Republican hardliners have vowed to stop McCarthy’s rise and are adamantly refusing to compromise on the terms they are laying down. “Kevin McCarthy will not be speaker of the House of Representatives,” said Congressman Bob Good of Virginia.

Meanwhile, among the majority Republican House members who support McCarthy, a nuisance that sparked intense debate on the floor is emerging. “Everything is messed up,” said Mike Gallagher, a McCarthy close friend.

For his part, the very conservative Steve Scalise, representative of Louisiana and second in importance Republican, gave a speech intended to designate McCarthy for the vote and invite his colleagues to abandon their protests.

A staunch opponent of Democratic President Joe Biden’s policies, Scalise did his best to persuade them. “We can’t start to solve these problems until we elect Kevin McCarthy as the next speaker of the House of Representatives.”

The deadlock began after Republicans won a majority in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections. Although the Senate remains in Democratic hands, Republicans in the House of Representatives have vowed to take on Biden after two years of control of both houses of Congress by the president’s party. And it is in this context that the Freedom Caucus has taken the initiative to oppose McCarthy, considering that he is not conservative enough to deal with the Democrats.

Biden calls the situation “shameful”

This situation completely paralyzes the House of Representatives: without a president, legislators cannot pass any bill and as long as the situation persists, the Republicans will not be able to open the investigations they had promised against Biden either.

A situation that the Democrats observe with some amusement; sometimes with laughter and applause in the chamber. Biden’s party supports the candidacy of Hakeem Jeffries, but he also does not have enough votes to be elected president.

Biden described the situation as “shameful”, assuring that “the rest of the world” was closely following this “disorder”.

Facing a hostile but disorderly House could be to the president’s political advantage if he confirms his intention to run for re-election in 2024, which he should announce earlier this year. The Democrat visited the State of Kentucky this Wednesday to promote the construction of a new large-span bridge, financed by a consequent infrastructure bill that he carried out, and which had garnered some Republican votes in Congress.

Elected officials will continue to vote until a ‘speaker’. Since 1923, the election of a president had never involved multiple rounds of voting. The longest fight for the position occurred in late 1855 and lasted two months, with 133 rounds of voting, during the slavery debates, as the Civil War approached.

With AP, AFP