The Republican leader again failed to secure a majority to win the speakership amid hard-right opposition, as a historic floor fight continued.
WASHINGTON — Representative Kevin McCarthy of California lost a second vote for speaker on Tuesday as his pitched battle for the top job in the House continued, amid a rebellion among hard-right lawmakers that left the post up for grabs and prompted a historic struggle on the floor at the dawn of the new Republican majority.
The mutiny, waged by ultraconservative lawmakers who for weeks have held fast to their vow to oppose Mr. McCarthy, dealt a serious blow to the G.O.P. leader and laid bare deep divisions that threaten to make the party’s House majority ungovernable. But it did not end the California Republican’s bid for speaker. He has vowed to continue seeking the post, forcing multiple votes if necessary until he wins.
“We may have a battle on the floor, but the battle is for the conference and the country,” Mr. McCarthy said before the voting began, and following a fiery private meeting with Republicans in which he defiantly told his detractors, “I am not going away.”
House precedent dictates that members will continue to take successive votes until someone — Mr. McCarthy or a different nominee — secures the majority needed to prevail. But until Tuesday, the House had not failed to elect a speaker on the first roll call vote since 1923, when the election stretched for nine ballots.
On Tuesday, Mr. McCarthy lost on the first...
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