January 06, 2023 09:33 AM UTC

Kevin McCarthy's Speaker Bid: The 15th Time's A Charm

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE #9: After 15 rounds of voting, Kevin McCarthy will barely become the next Speaker of the House with the final six “Never Kevins” including Rep. Lauren Boebert voting “present.”

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UPDATE #8: The U.S. House floor erupts in chaos as the 14th vote for Speaker comes down to two intransigent members, one of which is Colorado’s Rep. Lauren Boebert:

Here’s the situation:

Kevin McCarthy is a HALF of a vote away from the speakership. Gaetz and Boebert have voted present, but a third member needs to vote present or they need to flip to voting for McCarthy.

Leaders are SCRAMBLING on the House floor. Very tense situation.

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 7, 2023

Just wow. Stay tuned.

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UPDATE #7: In the 14th round of balloting, Rep. Lauren Boebert waves the white flag and votes “present.”

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UPDATE #6: The House of Representatives adjourns until 8:00 pm (MST).

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UPDATE #5: Via The Washington Post, Colorado Republican Rep-elect Ken Buck finds himself in a rare position of being useful:

Buck returned to Colorado on Thursday for what his office has called a “non-emergency planned medical procedure.”

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UPDATE #4: Lucky Vote #13 will fail as Rep. Lauren Boebert obstinately votes with Rep. Matt Gaetz for Rep. Jim Jordan.

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UPDATE #3: Kentucky Republican Rep-elect James Comer formally nominates Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker, so we’re off and running with Round 13.

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UPDATE #2: Kevin McCarthy will lose the twelfth ballot for Speaker, though by a smaller margin as last night’s dealmaking appears to have flipped some members of the “Never Kevin” coalition.

McCarthy finishes Round 12 with 214 votes, marking the first time that he has gained votes in successive rounds.

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UPDATE: As the twelfth round of balloting gets underway, Rep. Matt “Giggity” Gaetz returns to Rep. Jim “Gym” Jordan of Ohio for his next Speaker nomination. Rep. Lauren Boebert renominates Rep. “Alt-Kevin” Hern.

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MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle nonverbally speaks for all of us. Day Four of Kevin McCarthy’s showdown with the monsters he helped create gavels in at 10:00AM Mountain:

Updates will follow. It’s the only game in town.