U.S. House stalemate still holds back choice of a new speaker
CTV
Pressure mounting, the speaker's chair of the U.S. House sat empty for a third day Thursday, as Republican leader Kevin McCarthy was failing in yet another excruciating ballot to win enough votes from his party to seize the chamber's gavel.
Pressure mounting, the speaker's chair of the U.S. House sat empty for a third day Thursday, as Republican leader Kevin McCarthy was failing in yet another excruciating ballot to win enough votes from his party to seize the chamber's gavel.
One of McCarthy's steadfast critics, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, even cast his vote for Donald Trump, a symbolic gesture, but one that highlighted the former president's influence over the Republican Party.
But the final outcome on the seventh vote for speaker was turning out no differently than the others.
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.
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 for now a seventh time to be speaker.
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.
