Speaker battle heads to eighth ballot after McCarthy concessions fail to move holdouts
Virginia Aabram
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The House commenced the eighth round of voting for speaker after Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) detractors remained unmoved by his latest concessions in the seventh ballot.
The 20 conservative Republicans blocking McCarthy from the gavel still say there is no deal, and the only change since the last ballot Wednesday afternoon is Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) voting for former President Donald Trump rather than alternative candidate Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL).
MCCARTHY FOE MATT GAETZ VOTES FOR TRUMP ON SEVENTH BALLOT
Republicans may call for a motion to adjourn after this ballot and keep talking with the holdouts. Democrats are whipping against adjourning, and the vote Wednesday night to push the next vote until Thursday nearly failed when four of the rebel GOP lawmakers joined with them.
Though McCarthy has made numerous concessions to the group, including allowing one member to act on the motion to vacate the chair, placing more conservative hard-liners on the House Rules Committee, promising votes on key bills, and not spending in safe Republican primaries, a few of the detractors that include Gaetz and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) remain unswayed. Another group that includes Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Dan Bishop (R-NC) says they could be swayed if more of their demands are met.
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This is the first time since 1923 that electing the speaker has taken more than one ballot.