On 1/6/2023, on the final ballot, four Republican holdouts – Reps. Bob Good, Va., Eli Crane, Ariz., Matt Rosendale, Mont., and Andy Biggs, Ariz., all switched their votes to ‘present,’ giving McCarthy the majority vote he needed for victory. They joined Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Lauren Boebert of Colorado in switching to ‘present’ votes after days of voting for a candidate other than McCarthy. The final vote tally was 216 for McCarthy, 212 for Democrat Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York and six ‘present’ votes.
McCarthy said that the new GOP House will be a crucial “check” on the Biden administration, and he vowed to stop wasteful spending, the rise in the national debt, and the rise in prices at the pump and grocery store. “Our system is built on checks and balances. It’s time for us to be a check and provide some balance to the President’s policies,” said McCarthy. McCarthy vowed to use both the “power of the purse” and the “power of the subpoena” to press a conservative agenda that Republicans hope will help deliver them the White House and Congress in 2024.
Kevin McCarthy gave a speech after winning the Speakership. He said this GOP would be a check on Biden’s policies. “We pledge to cut the regulatory burden, lower energy costs for families, and create good-paying jobs for workers by unleashing reliable, abundant American-made energy,” McCarthy said. “Our first bill will repeal funding for 87,000 new IRS agents. Because the government should be here to help you, not go after you.” He said one of the House’s ‘very first hearings’ would be on the U.S.-Mexico border. “This chamber is now fully open for all Americans to visit,” said McCarthy. McCarthy said to “hold the Swamp accountable – from the withdrawal from Afghanistan to the origins of Covid to the weaponization of the FBI.”
“I want to give all Americans a personal invitation, you are welcome to see this body at work. No longer will the doors be closed but the debates will be open for you to witness what happens in the people’s House,” McCarthy said to applause. “From the committee rooms to this floor, we commit to pursue the truth passionately and embrace debate. No more one-sided inquiries. Competing ideas will be put to the test in public so that the best ideas win.”
“But we also pledged to bring Congress to the people,” McCarthy continued. “Because answers have not and will not always be found in Washington. That’s why one of our very first hearings will be held on the southern border. No more ignoring a crisis of safety and sovereignty. We must secure our border.”
“As speaker of the House, my ultimate responsibility is not to my party, my conference, or even our Congress,” McCarthy said. “My responsibility, our responsibility, is to our country.” No one gets promised anything.”
No House Speaker vote has gone on this long in modern US political history, and it’s set Republicans’ new majority in the chamber off to a rocky start. In 1856, it took former House Speaker Nathaniel Prentice Banks two months and 133 rounds of voting for the House of Representatives to settle on a leader – the longest stretch on record.
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McCarthy never give up, hold Biden accountable for Long Failure List, first bill IRS & first hearing at border