United States: still no “speaker” in the American Congress, an extremely rare situation

Europe 1 with AFP 9:21 p.m., January 4, 2023

An unprecedented scenario in 100 years: the American House of Representatives was completely paralyzed on Wednesday, dissension in the Republican ranks preventing elected officials from choosing a president.

The debates resumed in the middle of the day in the hemicycle for a second day of voting, but no agreement could be reached after a fifth round.

Big favorite to replace Nancy Pelosi at the perch, the Republican Kevin McCarthy is hanging on the goodwill of about twenty elected Trumpists who accuse him of being too moderate and deliberately playing the spoilsport.

Members of the most conservative fringe of the party, these elected officials take advantage of the very thin Republican majority won in the mid-term elections in November to set their conditions.

Without their support, Kevin McCarthy cannot be elected.

America wants "a new face, a new vision, a new leadership", argued the turbulent elected representative of Texas, Chip Roy.

Kevin McCarthy, a member of the Republican staff for more than 10 years, has already acceded to many of this group's demands, without this allowing them to break the impasse.

Worse, opposition to his candidacy seemed to crystallize.

"Avoid an embarrassing defeat" 

Democratic President Joe Biden called this situation "embarrassing", assuring that "the rest of the world" was following this mess closely.

Among the non-refractory and largely majority Republican elected officials, annoyance was beginning to be felt, giving rise to very lively debates in the hemicycle.

"It all seems messy," conceded elected official Mike Gallagher, a close friend of Kevin McCarthy.

On Wednesday morning, Donald Trump came out of the woodwork, calling on his social network for his party to do everything to "avoid an embarrassing defeat".

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But the former president, whose reputation as a kingmaker has been seriously questioned in recent months, has also failed to convince this conservative group to toe the line.

"The president should tell Kevin McCarthy that he does not have the necessary votes and that he must withdraw his candidacy," retorted the elected Lauren Boebert, a great faithful of Donald Trump, from the hemicycle.

The election of the "speaker", the third most important figure in American politics after the president and the vice-president, requires a majority of 218 votes.

During the first five rounds, Kevin McCarthy failed to exceed 203. This situation completely paralyzes the institution: without a president, elected officials cannot take an oath, and therefore pass any bill.

Republicans also cannot open the numerous investigations they had promised against Joe Biden.

A boon for Joe Biden?

A situation that the Democrats observe with some amusement, sometimes launching sardonic laughter and applause in the hemicycle.

Joe Biden's party is united around the candidacy of Hakeem Jeffries, but the elected official does not have enough votes to be elected to the perch either.

Elected officials will continue to vote until a Speaker of the House of Representatives is elected.

This was to be a matter of a few hours, but could extend over several weeks: in 1856, the elected members of Congress had agreed only after two months and 133 turns.

Facing a hostile but disorderly House could prove to be a political boon for Joe Biden, if he confirms his intention to run again in 2024, a decision he is due to announce at the start of the year.

The Democratic president went to Kentucky on Wednesday to praise the construction of a new large bridge financed by a pharaonic infrastructure law that he carried, and which had collected some Republican votes in Congress.

The opportunity for him to put on his favorite costume as a centrist president, fond of compromises, inherited from his long career as a senator.

Coincidentally, he is accompanied by the leader of the Republicans in the other chamber of the American Congress... the tenor of the Senate Mitch McConnell.