Alabama House Republicans sticking with Kevin McCarthy for speaker
On the second day and fourth round of voting Wednesday, Alabama’s six Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives backed California Congressman Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.
That fourth vote yielded the same result as the three rounds of voting on Tuesday with McCarthy failing to win a majority of the votes despite Republicans holding the majority in the House.
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Alabama Republicans Robert Aderholt, Jerry Carl, Barry Moore, Mike Rogers and Dale Strong all cast votes for McCarthy. A group of 20 Republicans, however, backed Florida Congressman Byron Donalds for speaker just as, on Tuesday, they backed alternate candidates Andy Biggs of Arizona and Jim Jordan of Ohio. That group of 20 prevented McCarthy from receiving a majority and pushed the House to a fifth vote.
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday reiterated his support for McCarthy’s candidacy for speaker.
Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, as he did in the three votes Tuesday, received the most votes for speaker with 212. Terri Sewell, Alabama’s lone Democrat in the House, voted for Jeffries.
McCarthy received 201 votes, Donalds 20 and one member voted present.
House members are still waiting to be sworn in to the 118th Congress, pending the election of a speaker. That includes Strong, a newcomer in Congress representing the 5th Congressional District. Taking the oath of office for first-term members of Congress is typically a celebratory event with friends and family that has been put on hold. The swearing-in ceremonies were expected to take place Tuesday.
“I am honored to step into this new role, serving north Alabamians,” Strong said in a statement Tuesday before the marathon voting process began. “This is a pivotal time in history where we can change the United States of America and Alabama for the better. It is my goal to focus on the issues that matter most to North Alabama, energy and border security, reducing inflation, and protecting the American people through a strong national defense.”
This story will be updated