Republican Kevin McCarthy is elected speaker of the US House

     AFP PHOTO

Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, was chosen as the new speaker of the US House of Representatives on Saturday after a historic post-midnight 15th ballot.

McCarthy triumphed with a score of 216-212. Six members of his own party withheld their votes, not supporting McCarthy as leader but also not voting for another candidate, which allowed him to win with the support of less than half of the House members.

McCarthy was unable to get a majority on repeated occasions, which caused the Republicans, who currently possess a razor-thin majority, to become embroiled in infighting. In fact, the contentious 2023 race saw more vote rounds than any speaker election since the Civil War.

Six conservatives who had previously opposed McCarthy's candidature changed their votes in the 15th round, giving McCarthy the victory. 14 additional Republican holdouts then switched their votes to McCarthy.

Kevin McCarthy said to his colleagues in his first speech as House speaker, "Now the hard work begins."

He reportedly added, "What we do here today, next week, next month, and next year will set the tone for all that comes after."

McCarthy stated, "As speaker of the House, my primary duty is not to my party, my conference, or even our Congress. "To our country is my responsibility, and it is our responsibility."

The House will examine "the emergence of the Chinese communist party," he further promised.

The 57-year-old California Republican's political career has culminated with the hard-won win. Over the past ten years, he has progressively risen through the ranks of his party's House leadership. However, his victory also highlighted the brittleness of his agenda and the significant divisions within his own party.

One of the concessions he made was to allow any lawmaker to ask to have him removed as speaker at any moment, which reduced his personal influence in that capacity. By reigning over House proceedings and being second in line for the presidency after the vice president, the speaker has enormous influence in Washington.

After the fourteenth round of voting, there were dramatic scenes in the House as McCarthy lost by one vote out of more than 400 voted. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who had abstained from voting this time but had previously supported former President Donald Trump, was confronted by him as he made his way to the back of the chamber.

According to an Associated Press story, there were accusations made, words were spoken, and violence seemed to have only been avoided. Mike Rogers, a Republican who had also rushed up to Gaetz, had to be forcefully dragged away.

The historic vote was held on January 6, 2021, exactly two years after the Capitol uprising. It's interesting to note that some of the conservatives who plunged the House into a severe impasse also backed Donald Trump's bid to contest the 2020 election with the loudest voices.

McCarthy ended up making a number of concessions to these rebel Republicans in his run for the speaker's chair. Democrats responded by claiming that McCarthy's position would be a "poisoned chalice," as the compromises he made would make him the least effective speaker in modern history.