Kevin McCarthy has been elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in a heated debate that has almost certainly pitted fellow Republicans against each other.
It took 15 rounds of voting for Mr McCarthy to win the job, even though his party had a majority in the House.
It came directly after a dramatic pressure campaign on the floor of the House as party rebel Matt Gaetz was urged to vote for Mr McCarthy.
The Florida congressman was among six holdouts who resigned late Friday.
Earlier, amid heated scenes in the chamber, Mr. Gaetz nearly got into a fight with Representative Mike Rogers, a supporter of Mr. McCarthy. The Alabama congressman had to be physically restrained by colleagues after he jabbed and jabbed his finger at Mr. Gaetz.
The Speaker sets the agenda of the House and oversees the legislative work. This position is second only to the presidency after the vice president of the United States.
Speaking after his confirmation, Mr McCarthy wrote on Twitter: “I hope one thing is clear after this week: I will never give up. And I will never give up on you, the American people. I will agree.”
US President Joe Biden congratulated Mr McCarthy on his victory and said he looked forward to working with the Republican Party.
“The American people expect their leaders to govern in a way that puts their needs first, and that’s what we need to do now,” he said.
Republicans have already promised to launch an investigation into Mr. Biden’s family business dealings and administration.
In a remarkable turnaround in the 12th round of voting, Mr. McCarthy managed to convince 14 Republican holdouts to vote in his favor. The 15th rebel followed for the 13th ballot.
After the 13th ballot was postponed, Mr McCarthy insisted to reporters that he would have the “votes” to take the speakership in the next round.
But the California congressman was still three votes short of the 217 votes he needed to take the prized Gale, and in a scene of chaos and drama, he failed to win again on the 14th ballot.
Among the dissenters were members of the House Freedom Caucus, who argue that Mr. McCarthy is not conservative enough to lead them as he seeks to oppose the agenda of Democratic President Joe Biden.
Mr McCarthy has offered various concessions to the rebels, including a seat on the influential rules committee, which sets the terms for debate on legislation in the chamber.
They also agreed to vote on whether to remove the speaker, leaving only one House member to vote, raising the possibility that the Republican coalition could easily fall apart again after Mr McCarthy’s victory. .
As the last politician on the roll — Ryan Zinke of Montana — voted, the House floor erupted in applause as it became clear that Mr. McCarthy had finally won.
Mr. McCarthy hugged other representatives and signed autographs, but the room was completely silent on the Democrats’ side. No democrats applauded.
Senior Democratic lawmakers accused Mr. McCarthy of ceding power to an extreme wing of his party and likened the riots on Capitol Hill by Trump supporters exactly two years ago to Mr. Biden’s certification as president. I interrupted.
“Two years ago the rebels failed to capture the capital,” Congressman Eric Swalewell wrote on Twitter. “Tonight Kevin McCarthy let him take over the Republican Party.”
And Congressman Don Beer of Virginia cited angry scenes among Republicans after the 14th count.
“Not worried that the process ends with threats of violence in the chamber of the House, that day,” he said. “It may not have determined the outcome, but that is no way to conduct people’s business. It will probably be a dark and sobering moment when this session is over.”
Minority Democrats continued to vote in coalition for their leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the first black person to lead a party in Congress.
Friday was the first day that Mr McCarthy’s vote count actually exceeded Mr Jeffries’.
Mr. McCarthy opened his acceptance speech with a joke. “That was easy, huh?” He outlined a number of Republican policy goals, including lowering prices, securing the U.S.-Mexico border and combating what he described as “woke thinking.”
One of his main goals, he said, is to stop “Washington’s wasteful spending.”
Lawmakers began leaving Congress around 02:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Saturday morning – 14 hours after the first bell rang at noon.
