MADRID, 3 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has failed on Tuesday to secure the necessary support to be named speaker of the United States House of Representatives, marking the first time since 1923 that a second vote has to be held.
Republicans won just 222 seats after the midterm elections, far worse results than they had anticipated, leaving McCarthy little room for error in reaching the 218 votes he needs.
In this way, the former leader of the Republican minority, has managed to reap only 203 Republican votes in the first ballot, while the Democrats have unanimously supported their leader, the representative of New York, Hakeem Jeffries, giving him 212 ‘ yeses’, as reported by Bloomberg.
The blockade in the conservative wing has occurred when several congressmen have voted for the Republican representative of Arizona, Andy Biggs, who has defended on his official Twitter profile that McCarthy “should retire” and allow “to select someone else in the next vote “.
McCarthy’s failure has exposed, as reported by ‘The New York Times’, the deep divisions of the Republicans, although they have not put an end to the candidacy of the Californian for the presidency of the House, who has promised to continue , even if it is forcing multiple votes until the position is achieved.
This group of Republicans who did not vote for McCarthy in the first ballot would be considering voting for Republican representative Jim Jordan in the second round, according to sources with knowledge of the facts to CNN.
The House rules, however, are clear: The process will have to be repeated until McCarthy, or a different candidate, gets the necessary 218 votes. The last time the election was blocked was in 1923, when Massachusetts Republican Frederick Gillett managed to win on the ninth ballot.
