S.C. Reps split, House in gridlock over Speaker vote

WASHINTON, D.C. (WCBD) – The United States House of Representatives has failed to elect the next Speaker of the House after six vote attempts. A small group of republicans is seemingly refusing to vote for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, holding up a successful vote.

Representative McCarthy was expected to face some challenge in his bid for the Speakership but still entered as the front-runner to win the job.

After six votes, three Tuesday and three Wednesday, Republicans are seemingly in gridlock over who should lead the party as Democrats rally behind Representative Hakeem Jefferies.

Rep. Jefferies has been the highest vote-getter through six attempts, earning all 212 Democrat votes. Representative McCarthy has finished second with just over 200 votes in each attempt. The next Speaker needs 218 votes to win the seat.

Roughly 20 Republicans have continued to hold up the process, voting for Jim Jordan of Ohio Tuesday and Byron Donalds of Florida Wednesday, preventing McCarthy from being elected.

Lowcountry Congresswoman Nancy Mace has voted for Rep. McCarthy, saying Republicans need to get to work instead of stalling the Conservative agenda. She took aim at members of her party holding up the election, saying they were going to “screw around and get another Pelosi elected Speaker.”

Upstate South Carolina Congressman Ralph Norman has voted against McCarthy in each vote, and says it’s time for something new.

“We will come up with a man or a woman who will take this job seriously and use the leverage as speaker to get this country back on track,” says Rep. Norman. Congressman Norman was then asked whether or not he believes Rep. McCarthy should drop out of the running. “That’s his decision. This will be the seventh vote he has lost, the seventh vote he’s lost.”

Political Analyst John Brisini says the failure to elect a new House Speaker provides some insight into the future of the Republican Party.

“This is important because it really is the Speaker who drives the agenda in the house, and really sets the tone,” says Brisini.

The future of the House of Representatives remains uncertain as Congress failed to elect a new leader in the first attempt, the first time it’s happened in one hundred years.

“If he can’t find support to capture the speakership, how is he going to build a coalition around passing a federal budget or raising the debt ceiling,” says Brisini. “It really begins to question his ability to lead in a republican caucus.”

Brisini says Rep. McCarthy’s path to Speaker’s office could require help from the Democrats to secure a victory. He says it could take several votes before that happens.

“Business cannot begin in the house until a Speaker is elected,” says Brisini. “They will keep voting until a Speaker is chosen whether that be today, whether that be tomorrow, or my goodness whether that be months, days, weeks, years from now.”

Rep. McCarthy has reportedly moved into the Speaker’s office despite not being elected.

Congress adjourned Wednesday afternoon, with plans to reconvene at 8:00 p.m. Wednesday for another vote.