House Speaker Chaos.
Electing the Speaker of the House is shaping up to be a fight not seen in 100 years. (Roll Call)
“Whether or not Kevin McCarthy becomes speaker under the incoming House Republican majority, the Jan. 3 floor election to determine who will take the gavel from Nancy Pelosi is poised to be the most dramatic in a century.
A small faction of “never Kevin” Republicans is threatening to ensure McCarthy is denied the 218 votes needed to win the speaker’s election. But a larger group of Republicans who have pledged to vote for “only Kevin” are making clear they won’t support any other returning members of Congress for the role.
The two positions are seemingly irreconcilable, and members on both sides of the intra-party standoff predict the speaker’s election will require multiple ballots for the first time since 1923.
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The GOP was expecting a crimson red wave last November that would have left little doubt of the America’s rightward turn and the embrace of Trumpian politics. That political tsunami never materialized which left many in the GOP flat footed and unsure of the direction the party needs to take in order to once again win elections. Now many in the far right GOP House cohort are determined to take the party even further to the right complicating the party’s ability to effectively govern in Washington and even elect a Speaker to represent them.
