Republicans may have to hit this button

Republicans took over a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday, but it was a very rough day for them. First, in a historic defeat, the GOP was unable to elect a Speaker of the House on the first ballot. That has not happened since 1923. Indeed, in the ultimate embarrassment to Speaker wannabe Kevin McCarthy, Democrat Hakeem Jeffries won the most votes on the first ballot. Jeffries was only about six votes short of being elected Speaker with a majority vote. Then, to compound the historic humiliation for McCarthy, he lost the vote for Speaker on the second round of voting as well. Then the third round. The top vote-getter continued to be Jeffries. Finally, the House Republicans gave up and adjourned until noon today.

There were also reports of a Republican shouting match between McCarthy’s group and “conservative hardliners” (a misnomer, since that describes essentially the entire House Republican Caucus) before the vote for Speaker took place. In contrast, Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar, formally nominating Rep. Jeffries as the Democratic House Minority Leader, stated: “Today, madam clerk, House Democrats are united by a speaker who will put people over politics.”