House adjourns until Wednesday after McCarthy fails to win enough votes to become speaker

Amna Nawaz:

Welcome to the "NewsHour."

A heated battle for the speaker's gavel in the House of Representatives has wrapped for the day, and there's no leader in sight. A rebellion from far right lawmakers means the front-runner for the position, Congressman Kevin McCarthy, fell short in multiple rounds of votes today. Voting resumes tomorrow.

Geoff Bennett:

Today marked the start of a new Congress, with Democrats retaining the U.S. Senate and Republicans taking control of the House.

But before they can get down to business in the House, they must agree on who will lead the chamber.

Lisa Desjardins starts our coverage of the fight within the Republican Party.

Lisa Desjardins:

In a House chamber crowded with guests and emotion…

Clerk:

The House will come to order.

Lisa Desjardins:

… the new Republican majority began by running into its own longstanding divides.

Clerk:

The next order of business is the election of the speaker of the House of Representatives.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY):

Kevin knows what we stand for. He knows when we should engage in the fight, and he knows how to build consensus.

Lisa Desjardins:

Former Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California has aimed to be speaker for years, and this morning projected command.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA):

So we may have a battle on the floor. But the battle is for the conference and the country.

Lisa Desjardins:

But a group of his own members have adamantly opposed him. As the first round of votes came in…

Clerk:

Davidson.

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH):

Kevin McCarthy.

Clerk:

McCarthy.

Crenshaw.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX):

Kevin McCarthy.

Clerk:

McCarthy.

Lisa Desjardins:

The overwhelming majority of Republicans voted for McCarthy.

Clerk:

Rose.

REP. John Rose (R-TN):

Kevin McCarthy.

Clerk:

But…

Clerk:

Gaetz.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL):

Andy Biggs.

Clerk:

Biggs.

Lisa Desjardins:

… 19 Republicans refused and voted for someone else. It was a larger number than expected.

Clerk:

No persons having received a majority of the whole number of votes cast by surname, a speaker has not been elected.

Lisa Desjardins:

And it was the first time since 1923 the House could not elect a speaker on the first ballot.

By tradition and precedent, no other business can be done until the House picks its leader, leading to another round of votes. But, this time, McCarthy was nominated by Jim Jordan of Ohio, who spoke of conservative principles.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH):

The differences between Joyce and Jordan or Biggs and Bacon, they pale in comparison to the differences between us and the left.

Lisa Desjardins:

Minutes later, those opposing McCarthy showed their strategy, nominating Jordan himself. And, after a third round of votes, McCarthy lost ground. One supporter switched to Jordan.

Clerk:

Donalds.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL):

Jordan.

Clerk:

Jordan.

Lisa Desjardins:

It was another turn in a wild Republican standoff.

McCarthy's allies insists he is the only viable option.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA):

This is not about prom king. This is not about a pastor. This is about electing a person to sit in the speaker chair so that we can all get to work.

Lisa Desjardins:

But his opponents see him as an opportunist they do not trust.

Rep. Matt Gaetz:

If you want to drain the swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA):

You're the guy that wants to be speaker, tell us, if you want to earn our vote, how we're going to transform this place, so that there's a different outcome for the American people. Tell us how you're going to do that.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO):

Yesterday, we had a deal that was not a selfish deal in any way for Kevin McCarthy to get him the gavel on the first ballot, and he eagerly dismissed us.

Lisa Desjardins:

It is an extraordinarily rare public party battle, as the Republican Party gains power.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA):

Representative-elect from the state of New York.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Lisa Desjardins:

Meanwhile, New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat, was officially elected minority leader of the chamber, becoming the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress.

On the Senate side, Democrats continue to hold the chamber, but now with 51 members, an outright majority.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY):

We have a lot of challenges ahead, but this majority is ready to meet them.

Lisa Desjardins:

And while his House counterparts remain divided, Senator Mitch McConnell set the all-time record for longest serving party leader in Senate history after spending 16 years in charge.

Today, he said his greatest honor is representing Kentucky.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY):

But the second greatest honor is the trust that my fellow Republican senators have placed in me to lead our diverse conference.

Lisa Desjardins:

History for Republicans on both sides of the Capitol, with longevity on one end and a chaotic start on the other.

Geoff Bennett:

And Lisa joins us now from her post on Capitol Hill.

Lisa, the House has adjourned for the evening. They're going to reconvene tomorrow afternoon. Where does Kevin McCarthy's bid for House speaker stand right now?

Lisa Desjardins:

Right now, it is not clear.

We came into this morning, Geoff, believing that this was Kevin McCarthy's battle to lose. I would say his chances of becoming speaker have been diminished today. The House has adjourned. And I think, overnight, we're going to see a good deal of negotiating from those who held out in voting for Mr. McCarthy and from his team.

But it's really important to remember that now we see a real kind of question mark hover over the House Republican Conference. This is the issue of, do they change the rules or do they change the man that they're nominating, or woman, for speaker?

And I think that question is now more up for grabs than it was this morning.

Geoff Bennett:

Looking beyond the political tug-of-war, what does all of this turmoil mean for the country? What does it mean for the lower chamber's ability to legislate, to govern?

Lisa Desjardins:

This is the most important question.

People need to understand that, while this is a lot of political tug-of-war and this sort of slow-moving, intense drama in the House, it does have incredible impact in perhaps how government can operate. The fact that House Republicans taking over the House cannot figure out who their leader should be really does not bode well for some of the potential fiscal crises ahead, including the need to raise the debt ceiling in just a couple of months, also the appropriations bills coming down the pike.

Now, of course, at any time, all of this can change. But, right now, you do not see a conference that really can unify on basic things like who their leadership should be. And I think that another thing to point out here is that the Republican agenda itself is still forming.

So, for those conservatives who are looking for a Republican message, this is the opposite. Republicans are not having time to form their own message. Instead, they're focused on this very difficult leadership battle.

Geoff Bennett:

Lisa, the opposition to Kevin McCarthy turned out to be much larger than many people expected heading into today's vote. Help us understand why.

Lisa Desjardins:

I will tell you, they had a conference meeting this morning, Geoff. I stood outside.

You know that basement there in the bottom of the Capitol where members meet. And the idea was that would be Kevin McCarthy's moment to make sure and get everyone on board. What he decided to do was show a strong, tough face. Some members told me they have never heard Mr. McCarthy yell like he yelled in the meeting today, basically excoriating those who were opposed to him.

Other members raised the idea that perhaps those who oppose Mr. McCarthy should lose their committee assignments. Those two things combined to actually push the opponents farther away, convinced them that McCarthy and those around him were more tyrannical than even that they thought.

It really increased the divide, rather than brought people together. And then, by the end of the day, we saw tweets like this from Scott Perry, who is one of those who oppose Mr. McCarthy, saying that: "I stand firmly committed to changing the status quo, no matter how many ballots it takes."

Two things about that. That side is digging in. They say they will go as many votes as it takes. But, however, Mr. Perry seemed to be opening the door to Kevin McCarthy again giving in more to what their side demands. Kevin McCarthy also standing firm his ground.

Right now, it really is a game of chicken, neither side blinking.

Geoff Bennett:

Well, to the extent that anyone knows, I mean, based on your reporting, what happens next?

Lisa Desjardins:

OK, so there are a few scenarios that can happen.

I think that this divide is so great that it actually will be hard to solve by tomorrow morning. That is possible, however. Conservatives, those holdouts, want things like the ability to get onto top committees without reaching a certain fund-raising goal. Right now, you have to bring in a certain amount of donations, frankly, to get some top positions. They want that to change.

They also want votes on more kind of conservative agenda items that will be tough for moderates. If Mr. McCarthy is able to bend to those ideas, perhaps we see something change. But others in the party say those rules changes that the holdouts want would make governing impossible for any speaker.

And that's where you get the tough divide. So, while there is hope for perhaps a breakthrough overnight, I think there's a real chance that we could be in for another day of question marks tomorrow.

I think the conference is starting to get tired of this. They know that this is a problem for them. They want to resolve this, but I just don't see either side budging, at least not for now.

Geoff Bennett:

Lisa Desjardins.

Lisa, thank you.

Lisa Desjardins:

You're welcome.