Kevin McCarthy was elected as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, Fox News informed.
McCarthy’s arduous journey to become House speaker came to an end early on Saturday morning when Republicans appeared to have miscalculated the number of votes they required, leaving him one vote short of taking the gavel. They then quickly cast a final vote to give him the victory with assistance from some of his most vocal critics.
McCarthy received 216 votes in the 15th and final vote for speaker of the House, a slim majority that fell short of the 218 votes normally required since all six of his remaining GOP rivals bowed out and voted “present.” The following representatives-elect cast “present” votes in the decisive vote: Andy Biggs of Arizona, Elijah Crane of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Bob Good of Virginia, Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Matt Rosendale of Montana.
By the end of the vote, not a single Republican had against Kevin McCarthy, which was the closest thing to GOP cohesion this week.
The removal of the anti-McCarthy votes brought to an end a week in which McCarthy had made progress against the 20 Republicans who opposed him, mostly as a result of discussions that will fundamentally alter how the House is governed. Conservative House members who claimed to have gotten about everything they wanted out of the negotiations began to break for McCarthy on Friday morning.
In order to restore the way the House operated for many years before that tradition was abandoned under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, McCarthy agreed to let a single legislator introduce a resolution to elect a new speaker.
He consented to the passage of a budget resolution that balances the budget in ten years, term restrictions, and a spending ceiling for fiscal year 2024 that is set at FY 2022 levels.
McCarthy consented to forego talks with the Senate on spending until the Senate has approved its own budget proposals. He also consented to establish a committee to look into the weaponization of government against American citizens, refrain from raising the debt ceiling without spending reductions or other fiscal reforms, and make sure that no bills are brought up for vote on the floor before at least 72 hours have passed.
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