US: Republican Kevin McCarthy elected speaker of the House

Republican leader Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the US House of Representatives on Friday night on a historic 15th attempt, after days of failed voting rounds.

The deadlock in selecting a speaker was the longest the House had seen in more than 160 years.

Major concessions to the far right

McCarthy's successful vote comes after members of the far-right Freedom Caucus within the Republican Party refused to vote for him until he agreed to all of their demands for the policy agenda in the new Congress, among other issues.

He managed to convince more of his colleagues to vote for him in the 12th and 13th ballots, but due to the party's ultra-slim majority in the House, a small number of lawmakers were able to frustrate his ambitions up until Friday night.

But on the 15th vote, McCarthy finally won on a margin of 216-212. He was able to be elected with the votes of fewer than half the House members only because six in his own party withheld their votes — not backing McCarthy as leader, but also not voting for another person.

McCarthy's election to the role comes on the two-year anniversary of the January 6 riots, which saw a mob of Trump supporters storm the Capitol building in an attempt to stop Joe Biden being sworn in as president.

The election of a speaker means that the House was at last able to start swearing in newly elected lawmakers and start the 2023-24 session.

The speaker of the House is a major political figure who is second in line to the presidency after the vice president. She or he is tasked with presiding over House business. 

McCarthy vows 'checks' on Biden

"I never thought we'd get up here," McCarthy said when he was introduced as the new speaker of the house by Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffreys.

"My father always told me, it's not how you start, it's how you finish,'' McCarthy told cheering fellow Republicans.

"Our system is built on checks and balances. It's time for us to be a check and provide some balance to the president's policies," McCarthy said, adding that his leadership would be committed to cutting the national debt, lowering gas prices and tackling immigration, among other issues that Republicans support.

The vote almost saw physical violence break out when Republican Mike Rogers of Alabama started to charge toward party fellow Matt Gaetz, one of the main opponents to McCarthy's election.  Rogers was restrained by another Republican, Richard Hudson.

Republican former holdouts vote for McCarthy

Before the vote, McCarthy had flipped some 15 hard-line Republican holdouts to become supporters.

Chairman of the Republican Freedom Caucus Scott Perry tweeted, "We're at a turning point," after switching his vote for McCarthy.

Another hard-line Republican who switched his vote for McCarthy, Byron Donalds, said that former President Donald Trump had urged Republicans to end the dispute the day before.

But the key to McCarthy's victory was the concessions he made to the hard-liner wing of the Republican party. Those concessions included sharp spending cuts and curbs on McCarthy's own leadership, which could make his job difficult. He agreed to the reinstatement of a longstanding House rule that would allow any single member to call a vote to oust him from office.

Biden calls for cooperation

US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, congratulated McCarthy, and called for cooperation between the leaders of the two parties.

"As I said after the midterms, I am prepared to work with Republicans when I can, and voters made clear that they expect Republicans to be prepared to work with me as well," Biden said.

US politics in recent times have been characterized by a strong divide between the two major parties, with Republicans seemingly swerving further and further to the right of the political spectrum.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola was also quick to congratulate McCarthy on his election and voiced hopes that the US would continue to assist Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia's attack.

"Looking forward to furthering transatlantic cooperation in defence of open societies, fair trade & shared values of liberty, democracy & human rights," she wrote in a tweet, adding: "We must continue to support Ukraine."

tj,kb/jcg (AP, AFP)