GOP leader McCarthy loses 11th ballot

WASHINGTON — U.S. House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., lost an 11th vote for House speaker on Thursday, his latest defeat in what has already become the longest speaker balloting process since 1859.

Ahead of the vote, two members of the bloc of 20 Republican holdouts opposing McCarthy’s speakership formally nominated alternative candidates to McCarthy: The first pick was GOP Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, who leads the influential Republican Study Committee. The second nominee was former President Donald Trump, who was nominated by his longtime ally, Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Hern has consistently voted for McCarthy for speaker, but he has not said outright that he would reject the job if McCarthy withdraws his name.

The emergence of another potential alternative to McCarthy was the latest setback in a frustrating day for the longtime GOP leader. Although the vote is still ongoing, McCarthy has already lost at least five votes, making it impossible for him to secure the gavel on the 11th vote. With 222 Republicans in the newly elected House, he can only afford to lose four of them to reach the 218 needed to win the speakership.

Earlier in the day, McCarthy sounded optimistic about talks between his top lieutenants and a group of around 20 GOP holdouts.

“I think everyone in the conversation wants to find a solution,” McCarthy said on his way into the House chamber for the day’s first vote.

But less than two hours after votes began, another influential McCarthy holdout, Rep. Scott Perry, Pa., posted an angry tweet accusing McCarthy of leaking details of internal negotiations.

The continued absence of a speaker has left the House in disarray, largely due to the fact that rank-and-file members can’t be sworn into office until a speaker is elected and cannot set up their local or Washington offices. This leaves all 434 members of the House technically still members-elect, not official voting representatives. 

Ahead of Thursday’s votes, Democratic Party leaders berated Republicans for the party’s dysfunction, and emphasized the harm that going days without a House speaker was inflicting on the legislative branch and the nation.

“We cannot organize our district offices, get our new members doing that political work of our constituent services, helping serve the people who sent us here on their behalf,” incoming Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., told reporters in the Capitol Thursday morning. “Kevin McCarthy’s ego in his pursuit of the speakership at all costs is drowning out the voices and the needs of the American people.”

Democrats also emphasized that the absence of a speaker was threatening U.S. national security by keeping members of Congress from accessing classified intelligence that is only available to lawmakers after they have taken the oath of office, which none of them can take without a speaker.

“At the end of the day, all we are asking Republicans to do is to figure out a way for themselves to organize so the Congress can get together and do the business of the American people,” Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said at a press conference with Clark.

Clark accused McCarthy of being “held hostage to his own ambitions.”

“This is about your responsibility to organize government. It is fundamental to who we are as members of Congress,” she said.

Democrats, meanwhile, have remained in lockstep throughout all the votes, casting their 212 ballots for Jeffries.

This is a developing story and will be updated throughout the day.