Photo: Alamy
Newly-elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., gave credit to President Donald Trump after finally garnering enough votes to win the gavel in the House of Representatives in the early hours of Saturday morning.
After 15 heated rounds of voting, the 20 Republicans on the floor who staunchly opposed McCarthy’s confirmation slowly flipped their position on the heels of reportedly intense negotiations between McCarthy and America First representatives.
Via the National Review, McCarthy told the press, “I do want to especially thank President Trump. I don’t think anybody should doubt his influence. He was with me from the beginning … he was all in…What he’s really saying, really, for the party and the country, that we have to come together…We gotta do so much work to do, and he was a great influence to make that all happen. So, thank you President Trump.”
According to Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., the solid few conservatives in the House who refused to give McCarthy an easy pathway to victory accomplished the following highlights:
- Allowing conservatives in the House to bring bills and amendments to the floor,
- A “Jeffersonian motion to vacate the chair,” whereby any single member can make a motion to remove the Speaker if he violates his concessions,
- A church-style committee that will reportedly investigate the FBI and other federal agencies,
- Bringing forth a potential term limit vote, as well as the potential for what she called “Single Subject Bills that can’t be loaded with irrelevant nonsense and woke policies,”
- Ending Covid mandates and funding.
Rep. Luna also noted that the new House would commit to balancing the national budget, in addition to coming up with a “Texas border plan so that we once and for all commit to stopping the crisis at our Southern Border.”
Per Fox News, McCarthy won the House Speakership with 216 votes after six members voted “present.” This lowered the threshold for McCarthy’s victory.
“The Republican Party really came together last night,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, following McCarthy’s victory. “It was, in so many ways, a beautiful thing to see. HISTORIC!”
