To Come Late Better Than Never: McCarthy Wins US House Speaker Race on 15th Vote

By Staff, Agencies

On the 15th vote, US Republican Kevin McCarthy finally managed to win the votes needed to be elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives early Saturday morning.

American President Joe Biden offered his congratulations to McCarthy.

“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. Now that the leadership of the House of Representatives has been decided it is time for that process to begin,” Biden said.

He further added: “This is a time to govern responsibly and to ensure that we're putting the interests of American families first,” he added. 

The 57-year-old Californian needed a simple majority to be elected as Washington's top legislator, who presides over House business and is second in line to the presidency. It became the longest speakership election in 160 years as the deeply-divided Republicans took 15 rounds of voting over four days to fend off a right-wing, anti-McCarthy rebellion.

Republicans' performance in November's midterm elections left them with a razor-thin 222-212 majority in the lower chamber of Congress, which has given outsized power to the right-wing hardliners who have opposed McCarthy's leadership. He won at last on a margin of 216-211. 

By dint of negotiations, the group of Trump supporters, who paralyzed the nomination, finally gave in, ending an unprecedented stalemate in Congress. Earlier on Friday, McCarthy managed to win over most of the 20 hardline fellow Republicans blocking his path.