Vote for Speaker of the House enters second day with no clear resolution in sight
There’s still no clear sign on when members of the United States House of Representatives could finally pick a new speaker.
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For a second day in a row, members in the house cast their votes for speaker with no one collecting enough votes to win the position.
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Most Republicans continued their push for GOP leader Kevin McCarthy.
“Let cooler, more rational heads prevail,” Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) said Wednesday. “Let us unite as Republicans.”
Despite pleas from fellow Republicans, and an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, 20 Republicans voted against McCarthy.
Just spoke with freshman Rep.-Elect @MaxwellFrostFL from Orlando about the House not selecting a Speaker yet. Members still aren’t sworn-in. “Congress can’t work until we elect a Speaker… The people of America are the ones that are going to suffer the most.” @WFTV pic.twitter.com/a0qKw6HkfJ
— Samantha Manning (@SamManningNews) January 4, 2023
The dissenting republicans have been casting their votes for several different members of the party over the last two days. On Wednesday, they voted for Florida Congressman Byron Donalds.
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“Do you think that the American people want us to continue down the road of what we’ve been doing,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) asked Wednesday.
The delay is leading to frustration from members who have been unable to get to work.
Like all of his colleagues, freshman Congressman-Elect Maxwell Frost- a Democrat from Orlando- still hasn’t been sworn into office.
“Right now, there is no governing going on,” Frost said. “With the Republican Party being dysfunctional, not being able to get their stuff together, not being able to elect their own leader, to elect a Speaker, the people of America are the ones that are going to suffer the most.”
It’s still unclear how many votes will be needed before a speaker is elected. No member of the house can be sworn in until that happens.
The Speaker of the House is also the second person in the presidential line of succession after the Vice President.
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