By Sterling Mosley. Media: Dc Enquirer.
Note: This article may contain commentary reflecting the author’s opinion.
On Wednesday night, the House of Representatives reconvened to attempt for the seventh time to determine the Speaker of the House.
The vote, however, was delayed by a motion to adjourn until noon Thursday requested by Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) who is a McCarthy ally. With McCarthy wanting to adjourn, it is apparent that he doesn’t believe that he has the votes sufficient to get past the 218 vote threshold.
The adjournment vote came out to be 214 “nays,” all Democrats and four Republicans, against 216 “yeas,” with the majority of Republicans wishing to adjourn. Amongst the “nays,” the four other non-Democrat votes came from members of the Republican opposition including Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ).
It is clear that there were some in the opposition that wanted another shot at pulling other Republicans into the group of 20 and further embarrassing McCarthy in a seventh ballot.
CBS News reporter Robert Costa has reported that the negotiations before the vote were “not a disaster.”
THERE’S ‘INCREASED OPPOSITION’ TO MCCARTHY: SEVENTH VOTE APPROACHES WITH MCCARTHY’S CHANCES STILL UNCERTAIN
“McCarthy allies are telling colleagues that his meeting tonight with the critics was an airing of grievances that wasn’t a disaster,” Costa wrote on Twitter. “Many problems remain but Emmer’s office huddles have at least sustained convos. McCarthy not dropping out still sees a path, several House Rs say.”
McCarthy allies are telling colleagues that his meeting tonight with the critics was an airing of grievances that wasn't a disaster. Many problems remain but Emmer's office huddles have at least sustained convos. McCarthy not dropping out, still sees a path, several House Rs say.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) January 5, 2023
“Part of the reason the House GOP leadership wants to adjourn tonight is they feel they’re making progress with some [House Freedom Caucus] members on a possible set of parameters for some of the critics to vote ‘aye’ or at least present,” the reporter continued. “Want to give [House Freedom Caucus] members time to think thru tonight’s talks.”
Part of the reason the House GOP leadership wants to adjourn tonight is they feel they're making progress with some HFC members on a possible set of parameters for some of the critics to vote "aye" or at least present. Want to give HFC members time to think thru tonight's talks.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) January 5, 2023
“The view among the old bulls on the GOP side tonight is that the group of McCarthy critics is not a monolith and while Gaetz & Boebert and a few others might never vote aye, hard promises on how primaries and committees handled could nudge this a bit,” the CBS corresponded explained, “but the talks need time [to] unfold.”
The view among the old bulls on GOP side tonight is that the group of McCarthy critics is not a monolith and while Gaetz & Boebert and a few others might never vote aye, hard promises on how primaries and committees handled could nudge this a bit, but the talks need time unfold.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) January 5, 2023
With the seventh vote delayed for noon on Thursday, further negotiations will be able to take place between the various holdouts and party leadership. Whether or not they will be able to come to a consensus is unknown, but given the events of the day, it is unlikely that McCarthy will be able to whip the votes he needs by tomorrow.