14 failures will taint Kevin McCarthy’s reign as Speaker of the House. The concessions that he appears to have given to conservatives in the House will make it harder for him to get his Uniparty Swamp agenda to play.
Nevertheless, he was finally voted in as Speaker after enough of the final holdouts voted “present.” Matt Gaetz had upended the 14th vote that was supposed to be McCarthy’s anointing, but caved for the 15th.
It even looked like it might turn violent when Congressman Mike Rogers had to be restrained as he headed toward Gaetz after the 14th failure.
Rep. Richard Hudson pulls Rep. Mike Rogers back as they talk with Rep. Matt Gaetz amid a 14th failed vote for House speaker late Friday night.
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After Andy Biggs and Lauren Boebert both voted “present,” it turned to Gaetz as the next holdout. He voted “present” again, which pretty much sealed the deal for McCarthy. The remain three members of the final six opposition Republicans all voted present. That left McCarthy with 216 votes. With the six votes of “present” and one member not voting, McCarthy needed 215.
Now we will see how the rules vote goes. If the holdouts negotiated well enough and the Republican caucus doesn’t turn on them, we should see more power for the Freedom Caucus.
