The Vote for House Speaker Continues

OAN Geraldyn Berry
UPDATED 2:52 PM PT – Tuesday, January 3, 2023

For the third round of voting, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has suffered another defeat as 19 Republican members continue to vote against him with the new addition of Rep. Byron Donalds.

 after completing three rounds of voting sessions, the House to adjourn until noon on Wednesday.

The result of the third tally ended with Rep. McCarthy (R-Calif.) receiving 202 votes, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) with 212 votes, and Jordan receiving 20 votes.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) had nominated Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio.) for the third ballot for House Speaker, despite Jordan’s opposition.

In the second round of voting, Rep. Kevin McCarthy had lost once again, receiving 169 votes, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries received 176 votes, and 19 votes went to others.

No majority had emerged in the First House Speaker vote, moving to the second ballot.

At the end of the tally, McCarthy received 203 votes, Jeffries received 212 votes, and 19 votes went to others who were nominated including Rep. Andy Biggs (R- Ariz.).

The House began voting for a new Speaker on Tuesday. With 434 members in the chamber, 218 votes are needed in order to win the majority.

GOP leader Kevin McCarthy was proposed for Speaker of the House by Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, receiving a chamber-wide applause. GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), however, refused to stand up during the celebration.

A small group of Conservative politicians, many of whom are members of the House Freedom Caucus, have opposed McCarthy in large part. Some have voiced that the California Republican is “untrustworthy” and “has not done enough.” Essentially, they are not sure that he would stand up to the Democrats and President Joe Biden in a responsible manner.

As an alternative for McCarthy, Rep. Andy Biggs had also been nominated for House speaker.

On the other hand, Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) nominated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries for House leadership, noting that he is a Latino nominating the first Black man to the position.

Meanwhile, the vote is poised to go to a fourth ballot. This event is the first in over 100 years that voting will continue through multiple rounds. The 118th Congress cannot begin or swear in new members until a Speaker is elected.

This is a developing story.