House Republicans adjourned for a second day without choosing a speaker in a historic stalemate with conservative hardliners that includes three Arizona members.
After six rounds of voting spread over two days and a boost from former President Donald Trump, Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., lost ground with a handful of members in his bid to head the chamber, with 20 Republicans insistent that someone else get the gavel.
An adjournment late Wednesday allowed further negotiations on the House speakership, but failed to sway at least some of those most vocally opposed to McCarthy. Punchbowl News reported a potential agreement involving the conservative Club for Growth to allow more competitive GOP primaries to play out across the country as a nod to the hardliners.
House Republicans narrowly voted to adjourn Wednesday and reportedly did so without the support of Arizona Republican Reps. Andy Biggs and Eli Crane in a move that suggests they remained unwilling to allow negotiations to continue.
McCarthy told reporters in Washington there was progress on the speaker vote, but the prospects for any deal remained unclear because the GOP’s majority in the House is so slim that he can only lose four votes and still win the speaker’s post. Many of the Republicans opposing him have signaled a strong commitment to doing so.
One of them is Biggs, who has played a key role in the effort to block McCarthy and has cast him as an agent of the political status quo.
Biggs, the former head of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, was the first Republican to challenge McCarthy’s bid. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., formally nominated Biggs. Crane, a freshman, was among about 20 House Republicans who consistently sided with someone other than McCarthy.
Biggs told CNN late Wednesday that he remained firmly opposed to McCarthy.
On Tuesday, Biggs was the first alternative for GOP members. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, also pulled in support, and by the second vote was the sole alternative. On Wednesday, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., helped thwart McCarthy’s candidacy.
The three votes Wednesday left McCarthy short of the needed majority even after Trump issued a statement urging McCarthy’s election.
House Democrats, meanwhile, remained aligned behind Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who continued to pull in the most votes, but could not win a majority in the GOP-controlled chamber.
The stalemate in choosing a House speaker is the first in 100 years and will only deepen wariness about a new era of divided government in Washington.
Before departing for Kentucky to tout infrastructure spending with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., President Joe Biden told reporters the battle in the House was “embarrassing.”
“With regards to the fight over speaker, I — that’s not my problem,” Biden said. “I just think it’s a little embarrassing it’s taken so long in the way they’re dealing with one another. And the rest of the world is looking. They’re looking at, you know, can we get our act together.”
In an interview with conservative podcaster Andrew Napolitano, a former judge, Biggs repeated his message to McCarthy:
“You are compromised, and you are weakened,” Biggs said. “Our conference is full of people who could adequately do this,” he said. “If we do not change the course now judge, I fear this will actually further entrench the D.C. cartel, the uni-party, as you call it.”
Freshman Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., who has voted for McCarthy in each round so far, told conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt that McCarthy has helped some of those who oppose him now and hurt the party and nation moving forward.
“He did a lot for a lot for people that are part of the 20 as well. Kevin McCarthy did a lot for a lot of people,” Ciscomani said, adding that he did so without asking anything in return.
Ciscomani said the legislative paralysis will hamper the GOP’s efforts to prioritize issues such as border security.
“These are the kinds of things that we need to get that we cannot get to until we get sworn in and are able to get to work,” he said. “I am disappointed in the start that we had. You only get one chance to make a first impression. … I don’t think we put our best foot forward (Tuesday) as a body of Congress.”
Arizona GOP Reps. Debbie Lesko and David Schweikert have supported McCarthy thus far.
Arizona’s congressional Democrats cast the GOP’s battles as symptomatic of a party uninterested in the work of government.
“What we’re seeing unfold right now is one of the reasons why more and more Americans are frustrated with politics, and I don’t blame them,” Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., said. “The fringe elements of the far-right have hijacked the House Republican Caucus and they don’t care about solving problems and getting things done — they simply want to watch our institutions burn.”
Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., expressed a similar view.
“This is what the modern Republican Party has become. Hijacked by MAGA extremists, they have no interest in governing or working to improve the lives of everyday Americans,” he said. “Instead, chaos and confusion are the playbook. That’s what’s happening with this Republican majority. I hope they get their act together so we can actually begin to do the People’s work.”
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