WASHINGTON DC – JANUARY 6: Mike Rogers (R-AL) gets into an altercation with Matt Gates (R-FL) in the 14th round of speaker voting at the 118th Congressional Meeting on Friday, January 6 After becoming, you will be restrained. , 2023 at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. The House adjourned Friday night for his fourth day of voting after Rep. Kevin McCarthy failed to win more than his 218 votes on his 11 ballots in three days. was resumed on (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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It was an extraordinary moment that pushed House Republicans to the brink, and the moment they finally found their way back.
With one vote short of becoming Speaker of the House, California Republican Kevin McCarthy got up from his chair and walked down the central aisle to the back of the chamber. I had lost The hall fell almost silent. That was when it became clear that the Republican leader was now asking the bombastic, angry, rebellious Florida Rep. Matt Gates to change his vote from “present” to “McCarthy.” .
Matt Gates (R-Florida) meets with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) on the floor of the House on Day 4 of the House Speaker election on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2006. (Left) Congressman-Elect, 2023 in Washington, DC.
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Gates, who threw a personal insult at McCarthy on the floor of the House just hours earlier, said no.
McCarthy slowly walked back down the aisle alone, tilting his head to the ground. McCarthy’s Republican supporter, Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers, angrily confronted Gates and told him he would regret his decision. Members of the floor screamed in disbelief when Rogers was held back by his colleagues.
WASHINGTON DC – JANUARY 6: U.S. Congressman Matt Gates (R-Florida) meets with John Leganski, Deputy Chief of Staff to House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California), who will be the president of the House of Representatives. I’m standing next to him on the floor. After Gates cast his attendance vote on his fourth day of voting for the Speaker of the House at the US Capitol on January 6, 2023 in Washington, DC.
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McCarthy walked back to make sure the argument was over, then returned to his chair and was defeated.
He lost on the 14th ballot. The allies were forced to adjourn the House abruptly, and the hoped-for unity seemed to collapse.
After that, my temper cooled. And within an hour he had McCarthy and his allies convince the rest of the opposition to also vote “present”, lowering the total votes necessary for McCarthy to win, and by early Saturday morning I handed him the chairmanship. The week in which the vote repeats.
“I hope one thing is clear,” said McCarthy, who finally picked up the gavel after 1 a.m. “I never give up.”
WASHINGTON DC – JANUARY 6: U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL) (C) and U.S. Representative Matt Gates (R-FL) Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on January 6, 2023 in the House of Representatives on the fourth day of elections.
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The chaos on the House floor came just two years after the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. At a late-night meeting after that attack, McCarthy called it “the saddest day I’ve ever experienced” as a member of Congress. But just a few weeks later, McCarthy went to meet Trump in Florida to make amends.
Friday’s scene was a different kind of chaos — but it was a full-circling moment for Republicans, who ceded both the House and the president to Democrats after violent riots. Many of them blamed Trump at the time. But McCarthy’s visit to Florida brought him back into the fold, and the former president called Gates and other holdouts on Friday night.
“He was with me from the beginning,” McCarthy said after the final vote, also referring to Trump’s phone call.
The U.S. House of Representatives is often tumultuous, but the events of the week were almost surreal: vote after vote, defeat after defeat, eventual success after choosing a seemingly uncompromising opponent.
Matt Gates looks at House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) after Gates casts an “attendance” vote in the House on Day 4 of the House Speaker election at the U.S. Capitol. (R-FL) Rep. Elect (R-FL) Jan. 6, 2023 in Washington, DC.
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McCarthy needed two more votes for Friday night’s tally, which didn’t start until 10:00 p.m. It was enough time to give time to return to. McCarthy and his allies appeared confident on board, but as the vote progressed, it became clear that he was one thing short.
Two of McCarthy’s closest lieutenants, Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina and Rep. Garrett Graves of Louisiana, sat on either side of Gates during the vote, with Graves at one point kneeling. Gates, however, could only be partially shaken, standing by saying “Attended” when the roll call reached his name. approached him and C-SPAN cameras tracked his short journey.
Gates angrily pointed at McCarthy during the conversation. McCarthy asked him to change his vote. Gates said his “current” vote was as far as he was going, Buck said.
US Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-California) meets with US Congressman Matt Gates (R-Florida) at the Capitol in Washington, DC, January 6, 2023.
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McCarthy then stated that Gates eventually “got everyone out there to the point where no one voted against me”, and convinced some of his colleagues to vote to “attend” as well. , no Republican congressman voted against McCarthy.
They “want to unite this conference and work together,” McCarthy said.
Associated Press writers Kevin Flecking, Farnoush Amiri, and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
