The Congressional treadmill rolled on Wednesday afternoon, with Rep.-Elect Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) failing to secure the 218 necessary to win the House Speakership in a sixth round of voting.
Rep.-elect Kat Cammack (R-FL) nominated McCarthy in the sixth round. Referencing the movie Groundhog Day in her speech on the House floor, she asked what happens “if we wake up tomorrow” and end up in this same place?
“We owe it to the American people” to deliver results, she added, saying that “in an era of uncertainty the last thing [the American people] need is uncertainty within this chamber.”
“Now is the time that we take control,” she asserted in a speech that received both cat calls and a standing ovation from varying Republican factions.
Rep.-elect Pete Aguilar (D-CA) for a sixth time nominated Rep.-elect Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), sparking two separate standing ovations from Democrats.
Then, declaring that “Washington is completely broken,” Rep.-elect Scott Perry (R-PA), who is Chair of the far-right Freedom Caucus, nominated Byron Donalds (R-FL) for the third time on Wednesday.
Donalds received 20 votes while McCarthy—who has already moved his property into the Speaker’s office—secured 201 votes, the same as Wednesday’s other two rounds.
For a third round in a row, Rep.-elect Victoria Spartz (R-IN) voted “present.”
And once again all 212 House Democrats cast their votes for Jeffries, making it a half-dozen unanimous shows of support from his party.
The House then adjourned until 8pm Eastern Time.
