Naija News reports that after days of deadlock and major concessions, McCarthy secured enough votes to be the speaker in the 15th round of voting early Saturday morning.
McCarthy’s election, which was the longest speaker contest in 164 years, followed a chaotic night on the House floor, including an extraordinary confrontation between McCarthy and Rep. Matt Gaetz during the 14th round of voting.
After his election, the new speaker was sworn in alongside all members of the 118th Congress, clearing the path for a vote on the House Rules package.
The new Congress features a record-setting number of women and several history makers, from the House’s first Gen-Z lawmaker to the longest-serving woman in congressional history.
Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries has made history, becoming the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress.
In his first speech as House speaker, McCarthy said his job to serve the American people had begun, adding that his ultimate responsibility is to the country.
He said, “Now the hard work begins. What we do here today, next week, next month, and next year will set the tone for everything that follows.
“As speaker of the House, my ultimate responsibility is not to my party, my conference, or even our Congress. My responsibility, our responsibility, is to our country.”
The new speaker also promised to address America’s long-term challenges, the debt and the rise of the Chinese communist party.
He added: “We’ll also address America’s long-term challenges, the debt and the rise of the Chinese communist party.
“As for the Chinese communist party, we will create a bipartisan select committee on China to investigate how to bring back the hundreds of thousands of jobs that went to China, and then we will win this economic competition.”
The House considered the first bill which will address a Biden administration initiative to hire additional IRS agents over a 10-year period and later adjourned sitting till Monday.
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