For Kevin McCarthy, it's a public exposure. The Republican fails eleven times in a row in the election to the presidency of the US House of Representatives. The reason is radical forces in his party that are opposed to him. Now the power struggle goes into overtime again.
After five more unsuccessful ballots, the US House of Representatives has again adjourned the vote on the chair of the House of Representatives. The chamber accepted a corresponding application on Thursday evening (local time) with a narrow majority. The Democrats resisted the renewed interruption of the election process. The next session is now scheduled to start today (12:00 p.m. local time/18:00 CET). Then further elections are expected.
The election drama in the US Congress has been dragging on since Tuesday. The background is an internal party power struggle among the Republicans. Their candidate for the presidency of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, has already failed eleven ballots in the past few days because various party colleagues refused to support him and he did not achieve the necessary number of votes as a result.
Republicans have a slim majority in the chamber. Therefore, McCarthy would need almost all of his party colleagues' votes to be elected to the powerful post. But several right-wing Republicans have staged a rebellion against the 57-year-old, throwing Congress into chaos. Because until the presidency is clarified, nothing happens in the House of Representatives: Not even the new MPs who were elected to Parliament in the congressional elections last November can be sworn in.
If McCarthy cannot come to terms with opponents in his party, he may attempt to negotiate with the Democrats. They could help him win the elections by abstaining in their ranks, for example, because that would reduce the number of votes needed. It would also be possible for a new candidate to be put forward that the Republicans could agree on. Talks with the Democrats about a consensus candidate that they would support would also be conceivable.
The current power struggle in the House of Representatives already has a historical dimension. It is the first time in a hundred years that it takes several attempts to fill the top position. In 1923, nine ballots were needed to elect a chairman. Even then, the whole thing lasted several days. It took the longest in 1855/56 - at that time the parliamentary chamber needed two months for the election and 133 ballots.
