Finally, Kevin McCarthy, the candidate of the opposition Republican Party, has been elected the 55th Speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the US Parliament. He won, on the 15th ballot, by a margin of 216-211.
The 57-year-old McCarthy was elected in the historic 15th round of voting at midnight on Friday. He took over from Nancy Pelosi. With this, it is expected that the political instability that has been going on in America for a few days will end.
The result also meant elected representatives have finally been sworn in as members of the 118th Congress, and the House can get to work.
McCarthy defeated Democratic Party leader Hakeem Jeffries. He won, on the 15th ballot, by a margin of 216-211. The Democratic Party lost its majority in the November 8 mid-term elections. In the 435-member House of Representatives, the Democratic Party’s seats decreased to 212, while the Republican Party’s seats increased to 222. After this, Pelosi expressed her desire to leave the post of speaker.
Republicans hold a slim 222-212 vote margin over Democrats in the new session of the 118th Congress, with one seat vacant.
“I hope one thing is clear after this week: I will never give up. And I will never give up for you, the American people, ” McCarthy said in a post on his Twitter account.
It is the first time in a century that an election of a House speaker took multiple ballots to complete. The longest vote in U.S. history took place in 1855, lasting 133 rounds over two months.
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