The US House of Representatives descended into chaos after Rep. Kevin McCarthy failed to garner enough votes to be elected speaker.
On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, a hardline group of Republicans voted against McCarthy, but the representative from California made some progress on Friday morning, flipping 14 votes in his favor.
The most disorderly scene in the House yet was caused by a round of voting late Friday night that did not result in the election of a speaker.
The vote was coming down to the wire when Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who led the charge against McCarthy all week, finally voted "present", which left McCarthy short by one vote.
C-SPAN was able to film the confrontation between McCarthy and Gaetz because there are no House rules yet.
—philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 7, 2023
McCarthy appeared almost solemn, while the fireBRAND from Florida was more animated, pointing and gesturing with his hands.
Rogers confronted Gaetz at the end of the exchange as McCarthy left. Rogers lunged at Gaetz and the C-SPAN feed showed Rogers being held back by Hudson.
McCarthy went back towards the scene as members of the House shouted.
—Gene Park (@GenePark) January 7, 2023
McCarthy finished with 216 votes out of 432, one short of the majority he needed to win the speakership. There were still deliberations on the House floor before the vote was called.
The 15th round of voting began at around 11:30 pm local time on Friday after the vote failed on the adjournment motion.
A representative for Rogers didn't reply immediately.
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