With No Speaker Chosen, House Adjourns

Kevin McCarthy lost 3 rounds of voting
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 3, 2023 5:19 PM CST
House Adjourns With No Speaker Chosen
Rep. Jim Jordan nominates Rep. Kevin McCarthy for House Speaker ahead of a second round of voting during opening day of the 118th Congress, Tuesday, Jan 3, 2023, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

After a chaotic first day of the 118th Congress, the House has voted to adjourn for the day, with no speaker of the House elected. GOP frontrunner Kevin McCarthy lost all three rounds of voting Tuesday, with 19 conservative Republicans voting against him the first two rounds and 20 in the third. The swearing-in of new House members was delayed due to the stalemate and family members of lawmakers, including children, fell asleep or left the chamber as the voting dragged on, the Hill reports. This is only the eighth time in history that a House speaker hasn't been chosen after three rounds of voting, and it's the first time since 1923 that it has taken more than one ballot, CBS reports. In 1923, there were nine ballots over three days.

Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries got all 212 Democratic votes in the three ballots. "House Dems are united and ready to get to work," he tweeted. "Complete chaos on the other side of the aisle." The House will reconvene at noon on Wednesday. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the most recent speaker of the House, denied that Democrats would cut a deal with Republicans to give McCarthy a majority, the New York Times reports. "That may be a Republican rumor that has no currency among Democrats," she said. McCarthy vowed to continue seeking the gavel, saying, "We stay in until we win," the Washington Post reports.

The Republican who switched from McCarthy to Rep. Jim Jordan in the third round was Rep. Byron Donalds. His vote made it 20 for Jordan, who had urged Republicans to vote for McCarthy. "The reality is Rep. Kevin McCarthy doesn’t have the votes," Donalds tweeted after voting in the third round. "I committed my support to him publicly and for two votes on the House Floor. 218 is the number, and currently, no one is there." He added: "Our conference needs to recess and huddle and find someone or work out the next step but these continuous votes aren’t working for anyone." (More speaker of the House stories.)

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