Post Politics Now House adjourns with no speaker after McCarthy fails to win third ballot

Kevin McCarthy stared into the abyss and realized defeat was at hand.

“I’m not the one,” the California Republican told fellow House Republicans, emerging from the huddle to deliver the same message. “We need a fresh face,” he told reporters.

That was in 2015, and seven years later, the answer has remained the same.

As Paul Kane writes, after spending all that time trying to mollify a right-wing flank that never trusted him, including genuflecting before President Donald Trump’s whims, McCarthy again faced utter rejection on Tuesday in his second bid for House speaker.

As House Republicans failed to corral enough votes for one candidate to win the speakership Tuesday, House Democrats were having a good time in the chamber, mocking their colleagues and displaying unity as they banded behind Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

The mood continued after the House adjourned with no speaker.

On Twitter, Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.), the former Democratic senior whip who helped lead the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, had one message for Republicans: “What goes round comes round.”

While the House launched on Tuesday what could be a lengthy leadership debacle, the Senate has already taken off for a three-week adjournment.

The chamber will not hold votes until Jan. 23 at 5:30 p.m. Eastern, when it will work on the confirmation of a Defense Department nominee.

Until then, the Senate will hold a handful of pro forma sessions.

Rep.-elect Maxwell A. Frost (D-Fla.) thought he’d be sworn in as the first Gen Z member of Congress on Tuesday.

“SIKE!” the 25-year-old tweeted in the evening, when it became clear that the House would remain without a speaker and thus, all incoming members of the House would remain just that. Newly elected members can’t be sworn in until the House has a speaker.

“I’m not going to talk about where we go on candidates, because that’s premature,” said Rep. Chip Roy (Tex.), who nominated Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on the House floor and also voted for Rep. Byron Donalds (Fla.).

“It’s absurd the way this place works,” he said, adding that he has conversations lined up with people in leadership and those objecting to McCarthy.

“Do you think anybody in America right now is like, ‘Oh my God, there’s not a speaker?’” he asked. “We’re a body, we can go pass motions. We can do whatever. There’s an emergency, we can do whatever we need to. But we’re having a debate. It’s healthy to have that debate.”

Asked if she has any advice for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the former House speaker, said he has to “respect the institution” by example.

“What brings us here?” she said. “The vision of our founders, the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, democracy and the responsibility we have to our children.”

The House took a voice vote to adjourn until Wednesday at noon, after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) failed to get enough support in the third round of voting to become speaker.

McCarthy, who needs 218 votes, received just 202; Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), founder of the Freedom Caucus who voted for McCarthy, received 20 votes. One person who had supported McCarthy in the second round of voting, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), switched his vote in the third round to back Jordan.

“The reality is Rep. Kevin McCarthy doesn’t have the votes,” Donalds tweeted shortly after his vote for Jordan. Rep.-elect Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.), who has supported McCarthy, said in a statement to The Washington Post, “I’m a runner and this is a marathon.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who was one of the 20 Republicans who voted against Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), refused to answer any questions from reporters on his way out.

Rep Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) said the adjournment was like “calling a time out” so the GOP caucus can have “a family meeting.” The message will be, “Hey, kids, let’s all get together on this and let’s stop fighting each other,” he said.

There have been 435 House voting members of each Congress since 1913, and in all that time only twice has a speaker of the House not been elected on the first ballot.

One of those times occurred Tuesday, when Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) failed to get the votes needed to be speaker.

The other took place 100 years ago, in 1923.

As Gillian Brockell reports, the November 1922 election had been worrying for Republicans. They lost 77 House seats, and their margin over Democratic members shrank from 171 to just 18. In his book “Horses in Midstream: U.S. Midterm Elections and Their Consequences,” historian Andrew E. Busch noted that most of the ousted Republicans were allies of President Warren G. Harding. The progressive wing of the GOP took their ouster as win for its camp.

Amid a stalemate over choosing a speaker, House votes to adjourn until Wednesday.

As Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) readies for a potential fourth ballot, the former House speaker seems to be enjoying her new perch as a member. Sporting a bright pink suit, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is glad-handing her Democratic colleagues and mingling on the House floor. She just posed for a picture with Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) who is wearing a matching pink blazer.

A child sleeps in the House chambers during the opening day of the 118th Congress on Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Family members join House members during the opening day of Congress.

A child is attended to as members arrive in the House chamber.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) defended his decision to vote against Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for speaker on the third ballot — despite voting for him on the first two — by pointing out that he only committed to voting for the caucus leader twice.

“The reality is Rep. Kevin McCarthy doesn’t have the votes,” Donalds tweeted shortly after his vote for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). “I committed my support to him publicly and for two votes on the House Floor. 218 is the number, and currently, no one is there.”