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In the election for House Speaker today, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA – yes, that is correct, a California Republican) accomplished something not done since 1923. He lost.<\/p>\n
While Republicans took control of the House in November\u2019s midterm elections, they fell far short of a predicted landslide victory, leaving only a slim majority to work with. McCarthy could only afford four defections; in the end, McCarthy lost 19 Republican votes.<\/p>\n
The question for speaker will now go to a second ballot, followed by an indefinite number of additional votes if a candidate can\u2019t secure a majority.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Last time this happened was a century ago in 1923. Doesn’t even come close to the 1855 record of 133 votes, but generally modern Speaker aspirants make sure they have the needed votes before the election.\u00a0 Surely I can’t be the only one looking at the 2022 election debacle and this as symptomatic of the incredible lack of Republican leadership?<\/p>\n
McCarthy, who had served as the minority leader, wooed his GOP critics by endorsing rule changes, including making it easier for a smaller group of members to challenge leadership in a procedure known as vacating the chair. The California Republican, who also lost a bid for Speaker in 2015, urged the party to support him in a closed-door meeting earlier Tuesday, saying, \u201cI earned this job.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
How Hillary-esque.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cKevin McCarthy is not the right candidate to be Speaker,\u201d Rep. Don Bishop, R-N.C., said Tuesday in a statement representative of some of the oppositions\u2019 feelings. \u201cHe has perpetuated the Washington status quo that makes this body one of the most unsuccessful and unpopular institutions in the country.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yahoo News<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Or my favorite quote on the subject:<\/p>\n
\n“If you want to drain the swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise,” (Matt) Gaetz (R-FL) said.\u00a0\u00a0 Yahoo News II<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"