McCarthy’s Speaker Fight Will Drag Out as House Vote Underway
- GOP leader facing opposition from conservative Republicans
- A multi-ballot speaker vote hasn’t occurred since 1923
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Representative Kevin McCarthy won’t claim the mantle of US House speaker on the first round of voting Tuesday, the first time in a century that the top position in Congress has required more than one ballot.
As voting got under way in the House chamber, at least 11 Republicans cast ballots for someone else, more than enough to deny McCarthy a majority. Earlier in the day McCarthy acknowledged to his colleagues during a private meeting that he expected to lose on the first ballot, as he could only afford to lose four GOP votes in the narrowly divided House if all Democrats oppose him, as expected, and all members are voting.