- Kevin McCarthy lost another Speaker ballot on Wednesday, his fourth whiff in two days.
- This time, Anti-McCarthy advocates nominated Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida as their pick.
- McCarthy continues to face a 20-person block determined to keep him from getting promoted.
Within the past 24 hours, Rep. Kevin McCarthy lost second-term lawmaker Byron Donalds’ vote for House Speaker, and then faced off against him for the up-in-the-air leadership post — losing, yet again.
The fourth losing ballot came Wednesday afternoon after the 20 dissenters who blocked McCarthy the day before by backing Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio switched things up by nominating Donalds to run the procedurally paralyzed chamber.
The only other deviation was that Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana voted “present,” which shrank McCarthy’s support to 201 votes.
The anti-McCarthy camp has so far proposed rallying behind Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Byron Donalds of Florida.
Donalds, who was put up for the top job by Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, lent McCarthy his support during the first two rounds of voting on Tuesday, but later switched sides after concluding that the badly wounded California Republican has no path to victory.
McCarthy refused to back down ahead of the latest doomed vote, insisting that he’s still the favorite among the broader Republican caucus.
“I still have the most votes,” McCarthy told congressional reporters ahead of the latest defeat. He added that he’d “continue to talk” with the dissenters, even though no progress was made overnight.
The emboldened opposition group, which was so far picked up support rather than withering under pressure from McCarthy, Jordan, embattled former President Donald Trump, and former Vice President Mike Pence, has vowed to keep at it until things really change around the US Capitol.
—RepScottPerry (@RepScottPerry) January 4, 2023
“We can’t continue with the same failed policies, rules, strategies, and *leadership* that are killing our Nation. @ByronDonalds will break the status quo,” anti-McCarthy advocate Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania wrote online.
