JUST IN: Kevin McCarthy is House speaker after 15 historic ballots and a dramatic finale that laid bare Republican infighting
Kevin McCarthy was elected House speaker in the early hours of Saturday morning – a major victory for the California Republican that elevates him to a powerful position leading the GOP majority in the chamber and an outcome that followed days of painstaking negotiations and failed votes. To secure the gavel, McCarthy and his allies worked to chip away at the opposition he faced from a bloc of hardline conservatives in what ultimately became the longest contest in 164 years.
The final tally in the 14th round was 216 for McCarthy, two for Biggs, two for Jordan and two voting present. McCarthy’s strategies for squeezing the remaining holdouts Part of the strategy to secure McCarthy the speakership was to get some of the holdouts to vote “present,” according to several sources. That would reduce the threshold for winning the speaker race below 218 since the rules say the winner of the race needs to have a majority of those voting for a specific candidate.
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