A stalemate in the House to elect a president continues, after Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy appears to have failed to secure the majority of votes needed on the second ballot.
It’s a sustaining pattern that may not end any time soon, CNN analysts say.
Lawmakers will continue to vote until someone wins a majority. They can take successive votes and they also have the option of adjourning to negotiate among themselves – but the House does not launch the new Congress until a president is elected.
The main opposition to McCarthy comes in the form of a handful of conservative lawmakers, including many members of the Freedom Caucus. Nineteen Republicans who did not want to vote for McCarthy instead voted for Rep. Jim Jordan on the second ballot, who was nominated by Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Those lawmakers plan to vote for Jordan again on the third ballot, Republican Rep. Bob Good told CNN.
The problem is that when that happens, it takes votes away from McCarthy – preventing anyone else from winning a majority.
CNN correspondents say that might be exactly the point.
“This is a group that wants to burn it. Kevin offered them everything, and they said no. They don’t want it,” CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel said in her analysis, referring to negotiations between the conservative lawmakers and McCarthy before Congress convenes on Tuesday.
“The hallmark of this group of 19 and the people who are sort of leading this charge is that it’s about throwing a wrench in the machine but not solving any problem,” said CNN anchor and correspondent Abby Phillip. Politics.
What happens next? Nobody really knows.
“Who’s the alternative? No one has really emerged who will have a chance of reaching 218,” Phillip added.
McCarthy made it clear at the start of the vote that he planned to continue to endure ballot after ballot and would not back down, sources said.
CNN’s Manu Raju contributed to this post.
