On Wednesday, The New York Timesprofiled the 20 Republican members of Congress who blocked GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the necessary 218 votes to be elected Speaker of the House — the first time this has happened in a new Congress in 100 years — and found some similarities between a lot of them.
The lawmakers who blocked McCarthy are: Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Dan Bishop, (R-NC), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Michael Cloud (R-TX), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Bob Good (R-VA), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Andy Harris (R-MD), Mary Miller (R-IL), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Scott Perry (R-PA), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Chip Roy (R-TX), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Anna Paulina Luna, R-FL), and Keith Self (R-TX).
Many of the lawmakers are holding McCarthy hostage in exchange for various demands on rule changes to give them more power and weaken the Speakership. Some, like Gaetz, have said they won't vote for him under any circumstances, no matter what he offers.
"More than half of the lawmakers who voted against Mr. McCarthy explicitly denied the results of the 2020 election, compared with about 15 percent of the 222 total members in the Republican caucus, according to a New York Times analysis. These Republicans said that the election had been stolen or rigged — or that Donald J. Trump was the rightful winner — even though Joe Biden earned seven million more votes and 74 more electors than Mr. Trump," noted the report. Furthermore, 15 of them voted to deny certifying at least one state in 2020 — and fully 19 of 20 are members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, although this is a minority of the 54 members of that group.
IN OTHER NEWS: Republicans slammed for anger over George Santos' lies while giving Trump a pass
The House is expected to reconvene later today to try again to elect a Speaker. McCarthy has vowed to stay in the race, and still has the backing of former President Donald Trump — who also ironically endorsed 17 of the 20 lawmakers blocking McCarthy.
If McCarthy cannot break the impasse, it is unclear what will happen next. Republicans could try to introduce an alternative, like McCarthy's second-in-command Steve Scalise, and retired Rep. Fred Upton is reportedly open to the idea of running for Speaker from outside the House — which is allowed under the Constitution — with a bipartisan mix of Democratic and Republican support, in exchange for giving Democrats some power sharing.