House stalemate still holds back choice of a new speaker

Lisa Mascaro

and Farnoush Amiri

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Pressure mounting, the House opened with the prime speaker's chair empty for a third day today, as Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed repeatedly to win enough votes from his party to become House speaker.

McCarthy emerged from a morning meeting with colleagues at the Capitol determined to persuade Republican holdouts to end the stalemate that has blighted his new GOP majority.

But despite endless talks, signs of concessions and a public spectacle unlike any other in recent political memory, the path ahead remained highly uncertain. The day started as the other two have, with Republican allies nominating him to be speaker.

But party holdouts again put forward the name of fellow Republican Byron Donalds of Florida, assuring the stalemate would continue.

Montana's members of the House have split their vote, with Rep.-elect Ryan Zinke, R-Mont. - he cannot officially be sworn in until the speaker is selected - voting for McCarthy in each ballot Tuesday and Wednesday and Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., who was elected to a second term in November, voting for alternate candidates on each ballot, for Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla, on the last three ballots.

Rosendale submitted in December a guest editorial criticizing McCarthy for not agreeing to change rules imposed by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and for not leveraging what he called "'must-pass' bills, like the federal and defense budgets, to prevent and change bad policies" and to remove provisions Democrats placed in bills and to advance conservative policies.

A statement from Zinke sent by his office this morning said he is disappointed with what is going on.

"We don't have control of the Senate. We don't have control of the administration. The last line of freedom really is the House of Representatives," Zinke said in the statement. "And the last line of freedom we see now is in chaos. And I don't think it's really a matter about the speaker, it's about showing that the Republicans can govern. And I've heard the arguments- 'Well, Kevin is not supported by conservatives. That's not true. The Freedom Caucus - about half the Freedom Caucus - Marjorie Taylor Greene would be an icon in that caucus, Jim Jordan, Duncan a lot of the founding members of the Freedom Caucus, as well as President Trump, all are behind McCarthy."

Republican John James of Michigan put McCarthy's name up for a vote, with a nod to history.

"My family's gone from being slaves to the floor of the United States House of Representatives" in five generations, said James, a newly elected lawmaker to be, who is Black.

He said that while the House Republicans were "stuck" at the moment, McCarthy, who has failed to seize a majority to become speaker, would ultimately win.

"We will not be able to fight until we find a way to come together," he said.

Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar of California renominated Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

What started as a political novelty, the first time in 100 years a nominee had not won the gavel on the first vote, has devolved into a bitter Republican Party feud and deepening potential crisis.

McCarthy is under growing pressure from restless Republicans, and Democrats, to find the votes he needs or step aside, so the House can open fully and get on with the business of governing. His right-flank detractors appear intent on waiting him out, as long as it takes.

"We're having good discussions and I think everyone wants to find a solution," McCarthy told reporters shortly before the House was prepared to gavel into session again.

House Chaplain Margaret Kibben opened the day's session, perhaps the last of the week, calling on greater powers to "still the storms of dissent."

The House, which is one-half of Congress, is essentially at a standstill as McCarthy has failed, one vote after another, to win the speaker's gavel in a grueling spectacle for all the world to see. The ballots have produced almost the same outcome, 20 conservative holdouts still refusing to support him and leaving him far short of the 218 typically needed to win the gavel.

In fact, McCarthy saw his support slipping to 201, as one fellow Republican switched to vote simply present.

"I think people need to work a little more," McCarthy said Wednesday as they prepared to adjourn for the night. "I don't think a vote tonight would make any difference. But a vote in the future could."

As the House resumed at noon today it could be a long day. The new Republican majority was not expected to be in session Friday, which is the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. A prolonged and divisive speaker's fight would almost certainly underscore the fragility of American democracy after the attempted insurrection two years ago.

"All who serve in the House share a responsibility to bring dignity to this body," California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker, said in a tweet.

Pelosi also said the Republicans' "cavalier attitude in electing a Speaker is frivolous, disrespectful and unworthy of this institution. We must open the House and proceed with the People's work."

Some Republicans appear to be growing uneasy with the way House Republicans have taken charge after the midterm election only to see the chamber upended over the speaker's race in their first days in the new majority.

Colorado Republican Ken Buck voted for McCarthy but said Wednesday that he told him "he needs to figure out how to make a deal to move forward" or eventually step aside for someone else.

McCarthy has vowed to fight to the finish for the speaker's job in a battle that had thrown the new majority into tumult for the first days of the new Congress.

The right-flank conservatives, led by the Freedom Caucus and aligned with former President Donald Trump, appeared emboldened by the standoff - even though Trump publicly backed McCarthy,

"This is actually an invigorating day for America," said Florida Republican Donalds, who was nominated three times by his conservative colleagues as an alternative. "There's a lot of members in the chamber who want to have serious conversations about how we can bring this all to a close and elect a speaker."

The disorganized start to the new Congress pointed to difficulties ahead with Republicans now in control of the House, much the way that some past Republican speakers, including John Boehner, had trouble leading a rebellious right flank. The result: government shutdowns, standoffs and Boehner's early retirement.

A new generation of conservative Republicans, many aligned with Trump's Make America Great Again agenda, want to upend business as usual in Washington, and were committed to stopping McCarthy's rise without concessions to their priorities.

But even Trump's strongest supporters disagreed on this issue. Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert, who nominated Donalds the second time, called on the former president to tell McCarthy, "Sir, you do not have the votes and it's time to withdraw.'"

By McCarthy's own calculation, he needs to flip about a dozen Republicans who have so far withheld their backing as he presses on for the job he has long wanted.

To win support, McCarthy has already agreed to many of the demands of Freedom Caucus members, who have been agitating for rules changes and other concessions that give rank-and-file members more influence.

Mostly, the holdouts led by the Freedom Caucus are seeking ways to shrink the power of the speaker's office and give rank-and-file lawmakers more influence in the legislative process - with seats on key committees and the ability to draft and amend bills in a more free-for-all process. McCarthy conceded to some changes in a Rules package released over New Years weekend, but for some it didn't go far enough.

Those opposing McCarthy do not all have the same complaints, and he may never be able to win over some of them. A small core group of Republicans appear unwilling to ever vote for McCarthy.

"I'm ready to vote all night, all week, all month and never for that person," said Florida Republican Matt Gaetz.

Such staunch opposition carried echoes of McCarthy's earlier bid for the job, when he dropped out of the speaker's race in 2015 because he could not win over conservatives.

"We have no exit strategy," South Carolina Republican Ralph Norman said.

"There's nothing he can give me or any of our members that's going to be a magic pill," Norman said. "We're here to vet a speaker. Vet the person third in line for the presidency and that's a good thing."

Not since 1923 had a speaker's election gone to multiple ballots. The longest fight for the gavel started in late 1855 and dragged on for two months, with 133 ballots, during debates over slavery in the run-up to the Civil War.

Democrats enthusiastically nominated and renominated their House leader, Jeffries, on all six ballots for speaker over the first two days. He repeatedly won the most votes overall, 212.

If McCarthy could win 213 votes, and then persuade the remaining naysayers to simply vote present, he would be able to lower the threshold required under the rules to have the majority.

One Republican, Victoria Spartz of Indiana, voted present on Wednesday's rounds, but it only ended up lowering McCarthy's total.

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AP writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

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Havre Daily News staff contributed to this report.