After 15 excruciating rounds of voting, Kevin McCarthy has finally been named as the House Speaker of the US Representatives.
Reaching out to more far-right hardliners within his party, McCarthy fell narrowly short of the needed 218 seats in the 14th round, in what has been a historic 4 days in US politics.
In the end, McCarthy was named Speaker of the House with 216 votes, after some representatives left their vote as “present”.
With tensions high internally among Republicans, McCarthy was seen confronting representatives Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Matt Gaetz of Florida, who both voted “present”. If one changed their mind, McCarthy would reach the necessary threshold to become Speaker.
It is the first time in 100 years that the vote for Speaker of the House has not been voted in after the first round of voting.
More to follow.
