It never gets boring in the US. The election drama about Kevin McCarthy puts many Hollywood films in the shade. The Republican Party is more divided than ever and unable to govern. And not even Trump can be happy about it.
The most normal thing that night in Washington was that eventually pizza would be delivered - as it always is when things get stuck in Congress. Kevin McCarthy may have been hoping that mushrooms and salami would help him solve his problem of the century. But it's all cheese: there just aren't enough party members wanting to vote for him. For the first time in 100 years, a candidate has failed to be elected Speaker of the House by his own party - in three attempts so far. McCarthy is disgraced. But so are Republicans. In any case, that was not proof of being able to govern. The show is set to continue this Wednesday. Many questions arise.
What's going on again?
Republican Kevin McCarthy wanted to be elected Speaker of the House of Representatives on Tuesday. This is a prestigious post and the official number 3 in the ranking of US heads of state - after president and vice president. The office is always given to the parliamentary group leader of the party that has the majority. The Republicans narrowly secured this last November - they won 222 seats in the congressional elections - four more than needed for the majority. But now, in three ballots, first 19 and then 20 MPs voted against the man from their own ranks.
Why is that important?
First of all, because the House of Representatives cannot begin work until a Speaker has been elected. This paralyzes politics for the time being. Laws cannot be prepared, let alone passed. Above all, important budgetary laws must be passed by the middle of the year. Above all, it is an embarrassment for the Republicans. Normally, the choice of house speaker is a formality. Unity can no longer be expected from this party. Some also say that the entire political class suffers from this theatre.
Who are these 20 deviants?
Most belong to the so-called Freedom Caucus. This "Liberty Committee" is the right-wing Republican fringe in the House of Representatives. The Freedom Caucus is also divided. Only about half take part in the revolt. Among them is Matt Gaetz, a Florida congressman who has made a name for himself in the past. After the storming of the Capitol in January 2021, he claimed the same day that some of the attackers were not Trump supporters but masked Antifa activists. He echoed Trump's allegations of alleged 2020 election fraud. He has been under investigation since 2021 for allegedly taking drugs and having sex with a minor. People around him have confessed to similar allegations, but so far there have been no charges against him.
It's also interesting who isn't there - for example, Marjory Taylor Greene. She, too, is a die-hard Trump supporter and one who is always happy to lash out at the Democrats - and ridiculed herself by claiming that Jewish lasers from space were responsible for wildfires in California. But she came to terms with McCarthy and called for his election.
What do the 20 have against McCarthy?
They see him as a representative of the party establishment who is not tough enough on the Democrats. Specifically, they are calling for the rules of procedure in the House of Representatives to be changed. The focus is on the right to be able to depose the speaker of the house. Since 2019, a majority vote by a parliamentary group or a parliamentary group leader has been required. Previously, a single MEP could bring about the vote alone, but this happened extremely rarely. The dissenters want this rule back. McCarthy had offered that five MPs would have to vote for it - making the office an ejection seat. But that was not enough for the rebels.
But the question is whether it's really just about that - or whether it's more of a demonstration of power by the MPs. The Freedom Caucus is notorious for not making compromises. That should probably make an impression on the base. Former House Speaker John Boehner delivered a scathing verdict in his 2021 memoir. The moderate Republican wrote that since 2010, some of the new MPs have been primarily concerned with getting a commentary contract with Fox News and not getting involved in politics.
Is Trump behind it?
Like most elected Republicans, the dissenters are Trump supporters. But it is unlikely that the ex-president pulled the strings on this action. If the Republicans present themselves as a divided bunch over the next two years, that will hardly help him in the election campaign. In addition, he himself had officially supported McCarthy in his candidacy and reaffirmed this this Wednesday. However, the two have a complicated history. McCarthy initially broke away from Trump after the storming of the Capitol - but when he realized that he wasn't losing control of the party, he rowed back. He drove to Trump in Florida and, in a sense, threw himself in the dust. Then he talked good about him again. But it was obvious that McCarthy was pointing his pennant to the wind. In this respect, the rebels could assume that Trump would not cry for McCarthy.
How are they getting out now?
It would be a surprise if McCarthy can still convince the dissenters. But it is also possible that there is another candidate that everyone can agree on. But there is another alternative: an agreement with the Democrats. Should enough of theirs vote in favor of another Republican nominee, the Freedom Caucus could be bypassed. In return, they would demand concessions. That was by far the most unlikely option so far. But now MPs are in uncharted waters, where whole new thinking is taking place. One thing is clear: voting continues until someone wins an election. The record was set in 1856. At that time there were 133 ballots.
