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Congressman Kevin McCarthy was voted Speaker of the House after a historic 15 rounds of voting over four days. He eventually secured the speakership after six holdouts voted "present" and lowered the threshold needed to secure a majoriy.

The fight for Speaker of the House

For the first time in a century, the majority party in the House of Representatives is struggling to appoint its most important leadership role. The ability for a party to elect its House leader has been a symbol of party unity for decades, but the Republican Party has not been able to unite behind a single candidate after fifteen rounds of voting over four days.

In order to become Speaker of the House, one member must win a majority of votes available. In the 118th Congress, the Republican Party occupies 222 seats, but Speaker candidate Kevin McCarthy has struggled to unite the far-right of his party behind him. The Congressman lost three votes between the first and ninth rounds of voting, but managed to pick up 14 votes again by the thirteenth round.

Minority Leader

Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries received 212 votes in every round of voting. He became both the first Black lawmaker nominated for Speaker of the House, and the first Democrat since 2007 to receive the unanimous support of the Democratic Caucus.

While Democrats do not command a majority in the House and it is extremely unlikely that Jeffries will become Speaker, he assumes the role of House Minority Leader. Jeffries became party leader after being elected by the Democratic Party to lead their caucus after Nancy Pelosi stepped down following the 2022 midterm election.