Kevin McCarthy

By a 216-212 vote, McCarthy, first elected in 2006, defeated New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries for the job. He was selected by his caucus to lead a House that ...

By Biodun Busari. Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy has emerged as the elected Speaker of the United States' House of Representatives.

Republican Kevin McCarthy was elected House speaker on a historic post-midnight 15th ballot early Saturday, overcoming holdouts from his own ranks and floor ...

Mr McCarthy said his victory -- that took 4 days and 15 voting rounds -- was a demonstration of his resilience as he would never give up in his quest.

We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages. [Port Harcourt](https://gazettengr.com/wike-urges-nddc-governing-board-to-focus-on-regional-projects/) [Wike urges NDDC governing board to focus on regional projects](https://gazettengr.com/wike-urges-nddc-governing-board-to-focus-on-regional-projects/) And I will never give up for you, the American people,” tweeted Mr McCarthy in reaction to his victory. [Politics](https://gazettengr.com/rivers-youths-advised-to-shun-electoral-violence-during-2023-elections/) [Rivers youths advised to shun electoral violence during 2023 elections](https://gazettengr.com/rivers-youths-advised-to-shun-electoral-violence-during-2023-elections/) [Maiduguri](https://gazettengr.com/borno-to-hold-council-elections-may-20/) [Borno to hold council elections May 20](https://gazettengr.com/borno-to-hold-council-elections-may-20/) [Health](https://gazettengr.com/ikpeazu-advocates-increased-awareness-to-curb-sickle-cell-disease/) [Ikpeazu advocates increased awareness to curb sickle cell disease](https://gazettengr.com/ikpeazu-advocates-increased-awareness-to-curb-sickle-cell-disease/)

McCarthy clinches the House speaker seat, more developments in the Idaho student murders and the Mega Millions jackpot rises to $1.1 billion.

Medora Lee: So the FTC thinks that if they ban non-compete clauses, this is going to open up a lot more opportunity for people to move jobs more freely and also to negotiate better wages for themselves. Medora Lee: So the FTC says that about one fifth of all Americans have signed non-compete agreements in their careers, and so they think that that's a pretty... So on the one side, the FTC thinks it's going to be great for workers to be able to move through jobs and negotiate higher wages more easily. Taylor Wilson: The Mega Millions jackpot rose to 1.1 billion last night, and after nobody won the latest drawing, it's now the fifth largest lottery jackpot in history and third largest Mega Millions prize. James Brown is in as always for the Sunday edition of Five Things tomorrow. Taylor Wilson: The Federal Trade Commission is exploring the ban of non-compete agreements from employers, but what does that mean for workers and businesses? Today there's finally a speaker of the House, plus the latest developments in the wake of the University of Idaho murders, and the jobs market remained strong. According to newly released court documents unsealed this week, a surviving roommate in the house where the murders took place told authorities she saw a tall masked man dressed in black in the hallway in the morning of the murders. For more on the latest jobs news, I'm now joined by USA Today Personal Finance and Markets reporter, Elisabeth Buchwald. One controversial proposal is an agreement that would allow for a single member to call for a vote ousting the speaker. Ouster would still require a majority of the House, but the rule change would potentially give major power to begin the process. The process leading up to McCarthy's election was chaotic, to say the least.

After scaling several political hurdles, Republican Kevin McCarthy emerged as the United States House of Representatives Speaker on Saturday. McCarthy's.

If Rep. Kevin McCarthy didn't have a lucky number before, it's surely 15 now. Just after midnight on Saturday morning, the House of Representatives finally ...

In the words of one conservative activist, that would effectively make the Rules Committee a “ [European-style coalition government](https://www.grid.news/story/politics/2023/01/06/the-democrats-the-republicans-and-the-freedom-caucus-inside-the-rights-plans-to-seize-power-in-the-new-congress/)” where the hard-right bloc is like a third party, and McCarthy and his allies would have to negotiate with them (or Democrats) to get anything done. [one of the most powerful committees in the House](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/06/nation/why-committee-youve-never-heard-could-be-whole-ballgame-speaker-fight/?event=event25) — setting the rules (duh) of debates, choosing which pieces of legislation to bring up to a vote and even rewriting legislation that has already passed another committee. [government shutdown fight in 2013](https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2013/10/03/228832618/for-tea-party-shutdown-is-worth-the-pain) and the [debt ceiling fight in 2011](https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/11/16/23433281/congress-debt-ceiling-house-midterms-spending-cuts-lame-duck-session), and McCarthy has [agreed to fight](https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1611481220554149891?s=46&t=HxjYFZUndxpIfxLsiwDwiA) for their preferred [spending cuts](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-06/mccarthy-s-emerging-speaker-deal-tees-up-75-billion-defense-cut) here in 2023. [normal threshold](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/03/motion-vacate-house-speaker/) to trigger a motion to vacate — it was that way until 2019, when Democrats raised it. Although the motion might get more use in today’s contentious Congress, it would still require a majority vote of the whole House to actually oust the speaker — meaning five Republicans would have to agree with all 213 Democrats [3](#fn-3) Previously, it would have taken a majority of the Republican caucus to call that vote, but McCarthy has reportedly agreed to lower that threshold to just one member. Longest elections for speaker of the House of Representatives in U.S. As I wrote on Wednesday, those dissenters were among the [most conservative, most anti-establishment Republicans in the House](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/20-house-republicans-oppose-mccarthy/). [2](#fn-2) [heated confrontation](https://www.businessinsider.com/house-devolves-into-chaos-rogers-lunges-matt-gaetz-mccarthy-loses-2023-1). [might never gain the speaker’s gavel at all](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/house-speaker-kevin-mccarthy-votes/). At the height of opposition to him — [between the third and 11th ballots](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/01/04/us/politics/house-speaker-vote-tally.html) — 20 Republicans voted for a non-McCarthy candidate, putting him far away from the majority of votes necessary to win. Just after midnight on Saturday morning, the House of Representatives finally voted to make McCarthy speaker of the House on the 15th ballot — the resolution of an historic, multi-day staredown with conservative hardliners who will now wield tremendous power in the House.

As the House was preparing to adjourn, a deal was apparently struck and Republicans elected McCarthy on the 15th round of voting.

Warring factions, a man possessed by naked ambition, a tragic fall from grace. Where have we seen this play before?

“I rise to cast my vote for a member not of the Freedom Caucus, but for Kevin,” she taunted during one of the votes on Thursday. We turn to the whole of Shakespeare’s works so we can understand the themes that rhyme with each other, the blocks on which rulers stumble, and the tides in the affairs of men. As we spoke, she broke out the script and read from a scene in which Caesar had just left the Senate and Casca and Brutus were each calculating whether the other was safe to conspire with. Aaron Posner, a theater professor at American University, says that the plays occupy such a treasured place in our collective imagination because they hold broader lessons on power: “what will you do to get it, what will you do to hold it, and [how] the only bad thing is the losing of it.” 3, as the caucus sat in a closed-door meeting that preceded the first ballot, McCarthy grew more and more convinced that he was the rightful heir to the speakership, thundering, “I’ve earned this goddamn job!” But as he led his foot soldiers into battle, akin to many a Shakespearean commander, his once-loyal subjects broke rank. [seasoned theater critics certainly think so](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/theater/trump-shakespeare-comparisons.html), urging Washington’s commentators to turn the page on the Shakespeare references and quit stretching the metaphors. Since McCarthy’s arrival in the House in 2007, his Republican colleagues watched with a certain measure of astonishment as he shape-shifted. Is he instead Hamlet, staring into the eyes of a skull at arm’s length, trying to avenge the ghost of Donald Trump? Like the Scottish protagonist, McCarthy’s preferred method of consolidating power was to keep the characters in his caucus happy. It may be an exercise in futility to attempt to find a one-to-one comparison between real life and the page. [tweeted Robin Young](https://twitter.com/hereandnowrobin/status/1610354648904237057), the co-host of NPR’s “Here and Now,” “I’d check my tea for hemlock,” a reference to the poisonous herb used to make the witch’s brew that sets in motion Macbeth’s tragic downfall. For eight terms, he’d waited, dutifully crafting a script that would allow him to seize power over the lower chamber, only for a rebellious band of Republicans to conveniently forget the lines he’d asked them to memorize.

Newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he wants to "be the check and provide some balance" to President Joe Biden's policies.

"Jill and I congratulate Kevin McCarthy on his election as Speaker of the House," said Biden. "Congratulations to Kevin McCarthy and our GREAT Republican Party!" McCarthy's first job as speaker was to swear in the other 433 members of Congress, who had been in limbo as members-elect since Tuesday, when the 118th Congress first opened. "I don't think he should, anybody should doubt his influence," McCarthy said. "And now we need to finish strong for the American people." McCarthy claimed he will pass bills fixing "urgent" problems in the nation with an America-first approach. "No more ignoring this crisis of safety and sovereignty," he said. He highlighted immigration reform as a top priority, saying the Republican-controlled House will hold some of its first hearings of the year at the Southern border. He said the first legislation he plans to tackle will repeal funding for more than 87,000 new IRS agents. [Donald Trump](https://www.cnbc.com/donald-trump/) for his support and said he was crucial in securing the final votes McCarthy needed. - The U.S. McCarthy said the tense showdown on the House floor this week was proof that he is not someone who gives up easily.

Friday was the fourth day of voting for House speaker. Photographers captured tense moments in the House chamber as lawmakers negotiated.

Here's a peek at what the tense, drawn-out negotiations looked like on the final day, on and around the chamber floor. After a chaotic four days and 15 rounds of voting to elect a speaker of the House, California Republican Kevin McCarthy finally emerged victorious early Saturday to convene a new Congress. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.