WASHINGTON — Georgia U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde was among a group of conservative Republicans who stopped GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy through three rounds of voting from becoming House speaker.
Clyde and the other McCarthy detractors held firm in their protest, causing him to fall far short of the majority he needed to become the top leader in the chamber. And there was no endgame in sight as members adjourned Tuesday before voting a fourth time.
Many of McCarthy’s most vocal opponents said they were prepared to vote against him every time until he ended his bid to lead the House for the next two years. Meanwhile, McCarthy and his supporters pledged to wait out the opposition and require members to vote as many times as it takes until he got the majority vote.
“I’m not going anywhere,” McCarthy told reporters prior to the voting but after meeting behind closed doors with fellow Republicans.
It was the first time since 1923 that a House speaker contest required multiple voting cycles.
The fight within the Republican Party raised questions about its ability to govern for the next two years.
Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has supported McCarthy for weeks, described the opposition as misguided and standing in the way of the conservative agenda she and others hope to carry out in Washington. After the House adjourned for the evening, she said she was not surprised by the outcome but disappointed.
“It actually just really irritates me and makes me mad,” she said. “Because today we were supposed to vote to end the 87,000 (Internal Revenue Service agent) army that the Democrats passed this last session, and we didn’t get to do that today. And that’s a failure of our conference because we didn’t elect a speaker.”
Clyde told reporters that he and the other McCarthy critics were “still in negotiations,” but he declined to say what the group hoped to achieve or receive in exchange for ending their opposition to his speakership.
On the Senate side, the day was much more routine. Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock was among the lawmakers sworn in for new six-year terms. Afterward, his two small children and adult siblings joined him for a reenactment, all shaking hands and smiling with Vice President Kamala Harris.
“It is the honor of my life to represent my home state of Georgia in the U.S. Senate,” Warnock wrote on social media after the swearing-in. “It is something that inspires me every day, and I know it will continue to inspire me in my first full, six-year term. We’ve got a lot of work to do, Georgia — and I’m eager to get to it.”
Clyde was the only Georgia Republican who did not support McCarthy during the three cycles of voting. The Athens lawmaker supported Arizona U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs the first time, but he and the other 18 lawmakers all coalesced around Ohio U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan during the second series of votes. In the third, a 20th member joined them: Florida U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds.
The delegation’s two newest GOPs members, U.S. Reps. Mike Collins and Rich McCormick, both backed McCarthy. Collins had pledged to vote against McCarthy when he launched his campaign in September 2021, aiming to establish conservative bona fides in a crowded field.
Democrats meanwhile were unified in backing their leader, New York U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. These votes are mostly a formality since Democrats don’t have the House majority, and therefore it is highly unlikely Jeffries would get the votes needed to become speaker. U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams gave a nod to her predecessor, the late Congressman John Lewis, as she voiced her support for Jeffries.
“Madame clerk, in the spirit of ‘Good Trouble,’ Atlanta proudly votes for Hakeem Jeffries,” she said.
HOW THEY VOTED ON ELECTING A NEW HOUSE SPEAKER
1st round: Andy Biggs, R-Arizona; 2nd and 3rd round: Jim Jordan, R-Ohio
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens
All rounds: Kevin McCarthy, R-California
U.S. Rep. Rick Allen, R-Evans
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson
U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-The Rock
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome
U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville
U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee
U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton
All rounds: Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York
U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta
U.S. Rep. David Scott, D-Atlanta
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta
