Speaker of the House Vote, Explained: Can Republicans Win With Kevin McCarthy? | WSJ

- [Reporter] The house of representatives is gearing up to elect its new leader, the speaker of the house. Democrats lost the majority in the midterm elections meaning Republicans will get to name the next speaker replacing Nancy Pelosi - Who House Republicans choose to be their speaker will be the person who really sets how House Republicans work with the Senate how they're going to work with the White House and House Democrats in the next two years. - [Reporter] But after a weaker than expected midterms performance Republicans don't have that large of a majority in the house which could complicate the process of choosing a speaker. So here's a look at how the vote is shaping up and what's at stake for both parties. Before the midterms, California Republican Kevin McCarthy was largely seen as the clear front runner. - [Natalie] Kevin McCarthy has led House Republicans as the minority leader for the past four years and he's done it with a singular focus on winning the majority back. - Number one thing I'm gonna do as a leader is I'm gonna listen to all voices in the conference and we're gonna do together what is best. - [Reporter] But after Republicans fail to deliver a red wave in the midterms McCarthy doesn't have the backing that he was expecting. - The criticism has come from a handful of Republicans who have kind of long held beefs with this party leader - [Reporter] And one of those Republicans with the beef is Arizona Republican Andy Biggs. He's also running for speaker while McCarthy was chosen by the GOP to be their speaker candidate in an internal vote in November, the results of that vote aren't enough to win him the gavel. Here's why. On January 3rd, House Republicans are expected to have a majority of 222 to 212 Democrats. With one absence to be elected, a candidate must win at least 218 votes or the majority of votes from those present and voting in the roll call. But here's where it gets tricky. Members don't have to vote for their party's nominated candidate. They could vote for anyone even if they aren't serving in the house. Democrats aren't expected to vote for McCarthy and at least five Republicans have voiced their opposition to McCarthy in recent days. - I think it's far too risky to pick Kevin McCarthy. I think it's risky to have someone leading our effort going into 2024 who vastly underperformed in 2022. - So the way the math works is Kevin McCarthy cannot lose five votes. If he has four detractors, that will get him to 218 but he's got to work to win some of the other folks over and make sure that the folks who haven't announced how they're voting are going to be in his camp. - [Reporter] The opposition from House Republicans varies making it difficult for McCarthy to address every issue. - Andy Biggs, he's been critical of Kevin McCarthy's leadership. Matt Gates has had long time conflicts with Kevin McCarthy, Ralph Norman. He's kind of gone back and forth on how adamant he is in the opposition to Kevin McCarthy. - [Reporter] Some Republicans have said they would support McCarthy if he commits to changing some conference rules including the motion to vacate a chair which would make it easier for him to be ousted as speaker. McCarthy hasn't yet agreed to back that motion. - You have a broad swath of the House Republican Conference that is backing Kevin McCarthy, but because their majority is so narrow, any handful of House Republicans can make Kevin McCarthy's life difficult. - [Reporter] If McCarthy can't garner the 218 votes needed to become speaker, a few things could happen. The Clerk of the House representative Cheryl Johnson could repeat the vote until someone gets a majority but that hasn't happened that often. The last time the house voted on multiple ballots for a speaker vote was in 1923. - Most Republican lawmakers will acknowledge that they think this will go to multiple ballots. - [Reporter] If that doesn't work, they could adjourn the house essentially calling a timeout in order to find a solution whether that's a different candidate or twisting the arm of detractors, in the year ahead. Republicans are facing a vote on lifting the debt ceiling and funding the federal government. Two historically tough issues for Republicans who oppose increased spending. - Whoever takes this job if it's Kevin McCarthy or someone else is going to be setting up for an even tougher wrangling of House Republicans in the new Congress. This is only the first vote.

Channel: The Wall Street Journal

Views: 121,172

Keywords: speaker of the house, kevin mccarthy, republicans, democrats, congress, voting, election, 2023, us politics, speaker of the house vote, speaker of the house explained, nancy pelosi, pelosi, Andy Biggs, Natalie Andrews, Matt Gaetz, Cheryl Johnson, House of Representatives, Senate, Congress, majority vote, midterms, midterm elections, politics, red wave, minority leader, minority leader kevin mccarthy, multiple ballots, lawmaker, Clerk of the House, explained, politics explained, news, polcam

Id: CsJgqkx1hCQ

Length: 4min 19sec (259 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 29 2022