Kevin McCarthy was assumed to become the Speaker of the House from the moment that the GOP won the majority. Only, it was an uphill battle as many Republicans decided that McCarthy was actually too institutional.
It started with four members of the Republican Party saying that they wouldn’t vote for him – and at one point, the number reached 20 or more.
McCarthy…or literally anyone…needed 216 votes to become the Speaker.
It took 15 votes to get the job done, and it was completed at the last minute before breaking for the weekend.
Here’s the good news:
– The House finally has a Speaker of the House in place
– It is a member of the GOP as opposed to a Democrat, such as when some Republicans threatened to vote for Hakeem Jeffries
– McCarthy has expressed that he’ll focus on several important investigations
Here’s the bad news:
– It’s an embarrassing victory for McCarthy since it took 15 rounds of voting to acquire enough votes
– A number of House rules have changed to ensure that McCarthy could get enough votes
– The number of votes shows that there’s a divide within the Republican Party
And now, let’s talk about the ugly:
– 15 rounds of voting makes history, showing that McCarthy was not highly desired by everyone
– A significant amount of things were given up to ensure that McCarthy could become the House Speaker
– The concessions could result in McCarthy’s tenure being cut short, meaning that a new vote would have to take place all over again – and there’s no telling where that could lead
So, the GOP’s majority in the House is off to a rocky start. We’ll have to see what that means in the coming months.
