It’s day three of the ongoing drama that is the 118th Congress electing a new Speaker of the House.
So far, it’s been six long rounds of voting where Rep. Kevin McCarthy has come up shy of the needed 218 votes. Round after round, the same outcome. McCarthy tops out around 202 while a group of 20 or so Republicans vote for someone else.
Live Stream – 118th Congress Day 3 – House Speaker Vote
Watch live beginning at noon eastern time when the House convenes for a third day to try and elect a new Speaker:
Perhaps the third time will be the charm? Reports indicate that overnight some deals were made and McCarthy may have given in to some key demands of the “Never Kevin” caucus, per CNN:
After suffering yet another stinging defeat on Wednesday, in which he lost a sixth round of voting for House speaker, Kevin McCarthy proposed more key concessions in his push to get 218 votes – including agreeing to propose a rules change that would allow just one member to call for a vote to oust a sitting speaker, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
In two more concessions, the sources said, he’s also agreed to allow for more members of the Freedom Caucus to serve on the powerful House Rules Committee, which dictates how and whether bills come to the floor, and to vote on a handful of bills that are priorities for the holdouts, including proposing term limits on members and a border security plan.
Nothing is final, however, since the negotiations are ongoing. And Republican sources say that even if McCarthy’s offer is accepted, it would still not get him the 218 votes he needs to be speaker.
Will this be enough to satisfy some of the anti-McCarthy members or will they continue on a quest to push someone else?
Rep. Lauren Boebert appeared on Fox News last night in a combative interview with Sean Hannity. The end result, after several minutes of badgering and over-talk, Boebert says she’s not supporting McCarthy even though former President Donald Trump does:
Boebert: “I am not going to support Kevin McCarthy”
That’s pretty definitive or at least it sounds definitive. In that case, Boebert’s demands are really just excuses to avoid saying she’s personally opposed to McCarthy and no amount of concessions or dealmaking will change her mind.
McCarthy will need 16 of the 20 anti-Kevin members to drift in his direction or he’ll need some of them, along with some Democrats, to vote “present” which would lower the threshold from 218 to a number he might be able to attain.
If McCarthy’s concessions were in response to some of his opponents asking in good faith, expect some movement today on the vote total. If Boebert’s “Never Kevin” caucus starts losing members it’ll be much more difficult to keep holding out if her 20 drops down to 15. If that happens, McCarthy’s getting in a range of cutting deals with a few Democrats to have them leave the room or vote “present” to lower the threshold.
If the round 7 vote looks identical to round 6, however, it might be another long, wasted day.
Early Thursday morning, McCarthy picked up another endorsement. Will this one matter more than Trump’s? Doubtful.
Kevin McCarthy should be Speaker
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 5, 2023
