In The Room Where Kevin McCarthy Failed To Be A Voiceover Artist – And Lost Control Of The Plot (Analysis)

After a tumultuous day in which Kevin McCarthy failed to collect enough votes to lead the House of Representatives three times, the last speaker, Nancy Pelosi, was one of the last members to walk out.

As she left the dressing room with husband Paul, she said the day, a long, tense walk through roll calls, “speaks for itself,” according to the AP.

Democrats seemed to enjoy watching the chaos swirl around the room as members “lined up,” united behind Hakeem Jeffries, Pelosi’s successor as Democratic leader. From the press box, it also looked like the Dems fared much better with the historic moment as well.

Since it was the first day of a new assembly, family members were allowed on the floor while toddlers played in the hallways and young boys and girls became the focus of small groups. There was even a moment of funny hilarity, like when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) crawled on the ground and started yelling “Jeffries, Jeffries” after she missed her call.

By contrast, Republicans huddled in groups of no more than two or three, weary of the discord unfolding in their ranks. George Santos, New York’s new Republican representative, who has admitted to fabricating important details of his background, sat mostly alone in the back row.

Much of this played out in glimpses on C-SPAN and major cable news networks. The coverage began with the promise of cinema-level suspense, a rare sober mood where the outcome was not predetermined. But as the House agonized through the third roll call, it became clear that no one was in control of the plot, if there was one.

At one point, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) urged members to rally around McCarthy, prompting the anti-McCarthy faction to vote for Jordan as their speaker alternative, raising suspicions that it was a complicated path for Jordan himself was to report. as a leader.

Never-Trump Republicans warned that McCarthy’s bid as speaker and his willingness to make deep concessions to the right as a route to power would create scenarios a screenwriter would find a little too bizarre. There were certain times of the day when they were right, like when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) tried to assert herself as the voice of reason against the stubborn holdouts. “I’m angry about it,” she told reporters.

There was a strange mix of jubilation and frustration in the room as new members, their families in tow, prepared to be sworn in. Various receptions were prepared for the moments of their assumption of office. But that never happened, as the 118th Congress cannot take place without a speaker. McCarthy has already moved into Pelosis’ old offices, but the workers have yet to put up a sign. (Hours after taking the floor to call McCarthy a sellout, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) now suggests he’s a “sticker.”)

So where does this first act of GOP-controlled Congress end? As of Tuesday night, there was little sign of a final.

Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) gave a televised interview to bolster her opposition to McCarthy. A few yards away, Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) spoke to reporters about how unreasonable his and other holdouts were. “Our voters didn’t vote for 19 people, now 20, to derail the House on day one,” he said, also noting that the anti-McCarthy faction has been called a “chaos caucus” and that that moment is close, was was . for some time.

Immediately after the third and final vote of the day, there was a strange feeling of silence in the Speaker’s Lobby, just outside the House Chamber, as Members sat by a fireplace chatting and reading newspapers.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) spoke to reporters about what a resolution would look like.

“Now there is a deep sense of hostility,” he said. “We’re going to have to get rid of it, because at the end of the day you just have to do it. You just have to work together. We will see. We are not there yet. I don’t know how it works. I don’t know how it feels.”