January 6th is a date Marked in US history by the attack on the Capitol in 2021. At the scene of the crime, two years later, members of the House of Representatives gathered this Friday to try to solve a blockade that has also acquired historical proportions. After 12 votes, the members of Congress did not agree to elect their president, Which keeps the House of Representatives paralyzed by the rebellion of the most extreme Republicans. And the party’s candidate, Kevin McCarthy, took advantage of the holiday period since the session was postponed Thursday, to approach positions with the opponents. On Friday’s first vote, the twelfth in total, he added a new support, but it’s still not enough, but it gives him hope that he will end up in office.
There is no closed agreement with the rebels, so the uncertainty about the selection Loudspeaker It is not cleared. Before the start of the session, the various parties talked about progress, rapprochement and progress. In the vote, no fewer than 14 of the 20 rebels supported him. McCarthy needs 218 votes to be elected and Republicans 222 of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives after the November 8 election.
As of Thursday, he had received between 200 and 202 votes, but on Friday his score improved and, pending the final count, he scored 213, just five short of his target. Apparently, three representatives, two of whom are Republicans, did not vote, so the distance may be smaller. For the first time, McCarthy outperformed his Democratic rival Hakeem Jeffries, although he did not reach the required majority.
Among the new voices are those of Chip Roy and Scott Perry, leaders of the revolution. “We are at a tipping point. I negotiated in good faith with one purpose: to return the Casa del Pueblo to its rightful owners. The framework of the agreement was established, so I voted in a good faith effort to return the House of the People by voting McCarthy.” Perry tweeted. Each of the new votes was celebrated with standing ovations from the GOP seat.
Some are irreducible, including Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, who called for McCarthy’s withdrawal: “He doesn’t have the votes today, he won’t get them tomorrow, he won’t get them next week, or next month, or next,” he said, though no one clapped. Him. The other person who has asserted that she will never vote for McCarthy is Lorraine Boebert, who has put forward another candidate. McCarthy cannot support him with a maximum of four of his deputies. On the 12th ballot, there were seven who left. Along with Maetz and Boebert The collection is completed by Andy Biggs, Eli Crane, Bob Good, Andy Harris, and Matt Rosendale.
Before Friday’s session, a group of representatives gathered at the gates of the Capitol to honor the relatives of the victims of the attack on the Capitol. The act was open to members of both parties, but the vast majority of those in attendance were Democrats, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the House Democrats’ new leader, Hakeem Jefferies.
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“Two years ago today, our nation watched in horror as a terrorist mob stormed the Capitol grounds in a violent attempt to sabotage the peaceful transition of power,” Pelosi said in her message, recalling the attack. “What was a day of unimaginable horror was also a moment of extraordinary heroism, as brave law enforcement officers stood up to the rebels to protect the Capitol. We are eternally grateful to these heroes, and continue to pray for the fallen, the bereaved and their families,” he continued. Conclusion: “January 6 marks an Epiphany in the Catholic tradition. As we celebrate the two-year anniversary of the Rising, let us pray that this day continues to serve as an epiphany for our nation: healing the remaining wounds and preserving American democracy.”
whitout deal
Two hours after that bill expired, the chamber met again without McCarthy being able to close an agreement and secure a vote. The position of the Republican would be greatly weakened even if he managed to get elected. This is partly what the rebel MPs want, who have no viable alternative candidate and have gone so far as to suggest former President Donald Trump for the position. Among his new concessions was that it would suffice for one representative of the 435 to ask the President of the Chamber to submit a motion of no confidence in his removal, at the request of the so-called Freedom Caucus. (Freedom Group), the most extreme Republican faction, to which almost all dissidents belong.
McCarthy is also willing to give the Freedom Caucus much higher representation than its share on one of the most powerful committees in the House, the one that regulates procedures and that depends on which laws will be voted on, among other things. related decisions.
These concessions added to others that the candidate had already brought to the table last weekend. McCarthy offered to dissolve the commission investigating the attack on the Capitol as soon as possible, something he had taken for granted, and create another commission in its stead to investigate the federal government’s alleged use of Joe Biden as a political weapon. That committee will be expected to be subject to scrutiny Search of Trump’s mansion in Mar-a-Lago (Florida) by FBI agents And other actions of the Ministry of Justice against the former president.
In addition, the political action committee that reports to congressional leaders announced Wednesday that it will not interfere in the GOP primaries. In last year’s election, that committee funded moderate candidates it judged most likely to defeat the Democrats, which upset the radicals. The obligation not to interfere was another requirement of the prodigal.
Freedom block He submitted a list of his demands at the beginning of December. McCarthy already last weekend agreed to incorporate some of them into new House bylaws, which as a result would ban remote voting or remote participation in committees. The new president will also crack down on the metal detectors Pelosi ordered installed after the attack on the Capitol to prevent weapons from reaching the chamber. He also agrees to impose strict limits on approving public spending: every time a new item is approved, it must be cut by another. The new regulation proposed by McCarthy also considers giving at least 72 hours from the time a bill is raised until it is submitted to plenary, Thus avoiding explicit laws Some representatives indicated that their rights as parliamentarians had been undermined.
Election of the Speaker of Parliament It’s the essential first step for even deputies to be sworn in, but Ultras deputies repeatedly boycott McCarthy’s election in unseen spectacle. in over a century. In 1923, the last time the Speaker of the House was not elected for the first time, it took nine rounds. To find such a persistent blockade, one would have to go back 164 years, to 1859, just before the Civil War, when it took 44 attempts in an environment of confrontation and polarization centered around slavery. The record, also from that time, dates back to 1855, when 133 votes were necessary.
the Loudspeaker It is the third highest authority in the United States after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who in turn presides over the Senate. She is thus second in the line of presidential succession in the event of the death or incapacitation of the president.
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