Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the House after 15 rounds of voting and making extensive concessions to a group of right-wing hardliners, raising questions about the Republican party's ability to govern
WASHINGTON, Jan 7 - Republican Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives early on Saturday, after making extensive concessions to right-wing hardliners that raised questions about the party's ability to govern.
As he took the gavel for the first time, McCarthy represented the end of President Joe Biden's Democrats' hold on both chambers of Congress. Those concessions, including sharp spending cuts and other curbs on McCarthy's powers, could point to further turbulence in the months ahead, especially when Congress will need to sign off on a further increase of the United States' $31.4 trillion borrowing authority.
"We don't want clean debt ceilings to just go through and just keep paying the bill without some counteracting effort to control spending when the Democrats control the White House and control the Senate." This week's 14 failed votes marked the highest number of ballots for the speakership since 1859, in the turbulent years before the Civil war.
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