First day of new Republican-controlled US House of Representatives descends into chaos

The first day of the new Republican-controlled US House of Representatives in Washington descended into political infighting and chaos on Tuesday as a group of right-wing politicians rebelled against their party’s official nominee for speaker.

The House of Representatives adjourned after Republican leader in the chamber Kevin McCarthy was defeated in three separate votes for speaker.

It was the first time in a century that the House of Representatives had needed multiple ballots to elect a speaker, which is one of the most important positions in US politics – directly in the line of succession to the White House after the vice-president.

As the voting continued on Tuesday, backing for McCarthy actually decreased slightly as one Republican switched his support to the rebels. If others do likewise on Wednesday it could prove very serious for McCarthy who had been seen as the front-runner to become speaker.

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All Democrats voted for the party’s new leader in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, in the three votes. Jeffries succeeded former speaker Nancy Pelosi as the leading Democrat in the chamber after she stepped down late last year.

The Republican rebels coalesced eventually around supporting Jim Jordan of Ohio, even though he is a vocal backer of McCarthy.

[ Kevin McCarthy fails to become speaker of US House of Representatives ]

The failure to elect a new speaker essentially freezes the operation of the new House of Representatives which has a slender Republican majority following the US midterm elections last November.

As the election of the speaker is the first priority of the new House, newly elected members cannot be sworn in or the legislative process commenced until this happens.

McCarthy needs 218 votes to be elected speaker. However, while he had the backing of the vast majority of his party in the chamber, he only received 203 votes as initially 19 Republicans supported other people. This number increased to 20 in the third and final vote on Tuesday.

McCarthy, who is from California, has pledged to fight on to try secure the speakership which has been a long time ambition.

It is expected that members of the House of Representatives will continue to vote on Wednesday until either McCarthy makes it past the winning post of 218 votes or a different nominee secures a majority.

Democrats and their supporters maintain that the Republican infighting on the first day of the new US Congress does not augur well for the party’s ability to govern over the coming two years.

Opponents of McCarthy are drawn from the right wing of the Republican Party.

Some are fiscal conservatives who want big changes to the way politics is conducted in Washington, particularly in relation to government spending.

Some have described McCarthy as being part of the Washington “swamp”.

McCarthy has been backed by Donald Trump for the post of House speaker. Despite this, some of the former president’s strongest supporters are among the fiercest critics of McCarthy.

Trump told US broadcaster NBC when asked if he was sticking with McCarthy: “We’ll see what happens. We’ll see how it all works out.”

McCarthy at the weekend made a series of concessions to his right wing critics in a bid to secure their support before the vote for speaker.

He agreed to allow a vote aimed at removing a speaker if the proposal had the backing of five Republicans in the House of Representatives.

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Some of McCarthy’s allies had previously maintained that such a provision would essentially make the speaker a hostage to more extreme elements in the party.

However, McCarthy’s concessions at the weekend were not sufficient for some right wing members who voted against him anyway.

At a meeting of his party members in advance of the first vote on Tuesday, McCarthy maintained he had “earned the job” of speaker after the party won control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 2018.