MADRID, 4 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS TELEVISION) –
The United States House of Representatives has adjourned this Tuesday without electing a president, after carrying out three votes in which the Republicans, with a majority, have not united in supporting candidate Kevin McCarthy.
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, who has received the votes of the majority of Republicans, has failed to secure the necessary support to be named speaker of the lower house, marking the first time since 1923 that multiple votes have to be held.
In the first two rounds, 19 members of the Republican Party would have voted against McCarthy, while in the third round the opposition would have increased to 20 members.
After the second vote, the Republican candidate for the presidency of the House insisted that the party is “unified.” “This is not about me, it is about the members who are resisting, who want something for themselves,” he has declared, as reported by CBS.
The legislators will meet again this Wednesday at noon to continue with the voting, since the activity of the Chamber depends on the election of the president.
The House rules, however, are clear: The process will have to be repeated until McCarthy, or a different candidate, gets the necessary 218 votes. The last time the election was blocked was in 1923, when Massachusetts Republican Frederick Gillett managed to win on the ninth ballot.
Republicans won just 222 seats after the midterm elections, far worse results than they had anticipated, leaving McCarthy little room for error in reaching the 218 votes he needs.
Meanwhile, the Democrats have unanimously supported their leader, the representative of New York, Hakeem Jeffries, giving him 212 ‘yes’ votes, as reported by Bloomberg.
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