POLITICAL CHAOS: Kevin McCarthy Loses 6th Speaker Vote, Hakeem Jeffries Elected Leader of House Democrats + GOP Alternative Byron Donalds Claps Back At Cori Bush

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Republican Kevin McCarthy is now offering new concessions to GOP lawmakers who are opposing his bid as Speaker of the House after the U.S. House of Representatives voted six times with no one being elected. Meanwhile, Democrat Hakeem Jeffries becomes the first Black party leader in the House of Representatives. Deets on what’s next, plus the rundown on GOP’s new nominee for Speaker of the House Byron Donalds clapping back at Cori Bush after being called a “prop” for House Republicans inside…

The chaos, crisis, and confusion continue!

The United States House of Representatives adjourned for a second night this week without electing a new speaker, paralyzing Congress and deepening division within the Republican Party. With no speaker, Congress can’t move forward to “work” for the American people.

 

After six consecutive votes, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., failed to secure enough support to be elected speaker. On Wednesday night, hours after former President Donald Trump called on House Republicans to “close the deal,” the California Republican and his allies met with conservatives – a band of 20 ultraconservative rebels – who have continued to deny him the speaker’s gavel. McCarthy needed 218 votes to win.

As he left the floor, McCarthy said he was “very confident” the fight would end in his favor and that his plan was to “work through it, get everybody together, and solve our problems.”

McCarthy then met behind closed doors in the Capitol with some of his closest allies and opposition members to try to reach an agreement. According to Politico, McCarthy and his detractors are debating legislation that would enable just one lawmaker to force a vote to remove him as Speaker and nominate members of the split faction to the powerful House Rules Committee. Additionally, they are arguing over legislation to limit the terms of Congress and reform the federal budgeting process.

However, despite hours of negotiations, the two parties appeared no closer to an agreement. The House voted to adjourn until Thursday at 12pm EST.

You can watch what goes down during Day 3 live below:

When asked if he would drop out, McCarthy said, “It’s not going to happen.”

The House last struggled to elect a speaker 100 years ago.

With no Speaker of the House, rank-and-file members can’t be sworn into office until a speaker is elected. All 434 members of the House are technically still members-elect, not official voting representatives. 

The latest votes saw GOP holdouts nominate and vote for Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, who is black. The congressman-elect received the second most votes among Republican candidates behind front-runner Kevin McCarthy.

Democratic Rep.-elect Cori Bush, U.S. representative for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, took to Twitter to speak her mind about Byron Donalds being GOP’s alternative.

”FWIW, @ByronDonalds is not a historic candidate for Speaker,” she tweeted. “He is a prop. Despite being Black, he supports a policy agenda intent on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy. His name being in the mix is not progress—it’s pathetic.”

Rep.-elect Byron Donalds, who was just elected to his second term in the House of Representatives, clapped back, tweeting that no one sought her opinion on the matter.

”FWIW, nobody asked @CoriBush her opinion on the matter,” he said. “Before you judge my agenda, let’s have a debate over the policies and the outcomes. Until then, don’t be a crab in a barrel!”

Byron appeared on FOX News last night to talk about the voting process and to address Cori’s tweet more:

Meanwhile…

In Tuesday’s historic vote, Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries received more votes for speaker than Republican Kevin McCarthy. Jeffries received 212 votes from all House Democrats in the first three rounds of voting. Jeffries is the first Black member of Congress to lead a political party.

California Democrat Pete Aguilar nominated him as speaker on Tuesday afternoon.

”Today, Hakeem’s leadership style is quite simple: spread love. It’s the Brooklyn way,” he said. “Madam Clerk, a Latino, is nominating for leader of this chamber a Black man for the first time in our history.”

Gotta love it! The 52-year-old was first elected to Congress in 2012.

Democratic leaders have stated that they don’t plan on bailing out the struggling Republicans.

“This is on them,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), the incoming chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said during a press briefing in the Capitol. 

Aguilar said he hasn’t been approached by any lawmakers about a search for a potential consensus candidate, and Democratic leaders haven’t discussed it with their rank-and-file members, who are united behind Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.

“If there was something that was real, we would look at that,” Aguilar said. “But I haven’t seen any proof that Republicans are willing to engage.”

The chaos continues!

EXTRAS:

1. President Joe Biden speaks with the parents of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who remains in critical condition after going into cardiac arrest. STORY

 

 

2. Rapper Theophilus London found safe after missing for months in Los Angeles. STORY

 

Photos: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo/Alex Brandon

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