The biennial event of electing a speaker for the House of Representatives was anything but routine this week. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) couldn’t secure the necessary votes on Tuesday’s opening day of Congress.
Vote after vote, a small but powerful faction of rebel Republicans denied McCarthy the 218 votes needed to ascend to the House’s top job and commence the 118th Congress. As of Friday evening, the work of the House had come to a complete stop because of the speaker drama.
Congress had not had to repeat a roll call vote to elect a House speaker since 1923, when it took nine ballots for Frederick Gillett to obtain the speakership. As the days dragged on, McCarthy’s floor fight became the longest since the antebellum era, when William Pennington needed 44 votes to win in 1860.
Here’s a look at scenes from the historic speaker’s vote captured by Washington Examiner photographer Graeme Jennings during the week of Jan. 2, 2023.
McCarthy speakership bid sparks floor fight not seen in 100 years
Chip Roy flips vote in favor of McCarthy on Friday following negotiations
Jim Jordan stands by McCarthy despite rebels nominating him for speaker
Matt Gaetz leads revolt against McCarthy and nominates former President Donald Trump for speaker
Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene, normal allies, were divided on the McCarthy vote
Greene backs McCarthy and lashes out at rebels
George Santos, embroiled in a fraud scandal, votes for McCarthy and mistakenly announces he’d been sworn in
Democrats unite behind Hakeem Jeffries for speaker
