Will Kevin McCarthy become Speaker?

"Washington is broken" asserts member of party that has failed to elect a speaker five times (so far).

That sums it up pretty nicely.
 
Is that even allowed? I honestly don't know since I've never seen this situation before (at least while I was paying attention).

Yes. There is no requirement the Speaker be a member of the House. But aside from being Speaker, they would be an unelected person being 2nd in line to the Presidency. So it would probably need to be a respected former House member. There has been at least one person elevated to President who was not elected so it is not out of the question.
 
I think it is working exactly like it was designed.
Nah. Jeffries summed it up well.

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Biden says standoff on House floor is embarrassing

President Joe Biden weighed in on the ongoing standoff on the House floor as Republicans failed to reach a consensus and elect a speaker of the House, saying it's "embarrassing" and that what worries him most is how this undermines the institution.

"Obviously I am," Biden said when asked if he was concerned about the US not having a functional Congress.

"...it's embarrassing for the country. And I mean literally, I'm not making a partisan — that's the reality that to be able to have a Congress that can't function is just embarrassing. We're the greatest country in the world, how can that be? And we've had a lot of trouble with the attacks on our institutions already— that's what worries me more than anything else," the president said.
 
Yes. There is no requirement the Speaker be a member of the House. But aside from being Speaker, they would be an unelected person being 2nd in line to the Presidency. So it would probably need to be a respected former House member. There has been at least one person elevated to President who was not elected so it is not out of the question.

I was shocked to recently find this out. Whoever gets the job I can’t imagine it leading to greater things unless your biggest aspiration is to knock a decade off your life expectancy. You probably won’t be able to find a bigger group of broken human beings than Trumpism era Republican Congressional leaders.
 
I think it is working exactly like it was designed.

Yup, this is the process that was set up and it'll lead to a conclusion.....it might take a bit longer than usual this time, but that sort of thing happens.

There are multiple solutions still possible.
 
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Yes. There is no requirement the Speaker be a member of the House. But aside from being Speaker, they would be an unelected person being 2nd in line to the Presidency. So it would probably need to be a respected former House member. There has been at least one person elevated to President who was not elected so it is not out of the question.
Wow. That is pretty wild.
 
Yup, this is the process that was set up and it'll lead to a conclusion.....it might take a bit longer than usual this time, but that sort of thing happens.

There are multiple solutions still possible.

It will. And we are no where close to the 1855 record of 133 rounds of voting.
 
No, just pointing out that this is not unprecedented. There is just too much hand-wringing going on about not having a functioning House.
I don't think anyone here is hand-wringing. @GermanSuplex pretty much nailed what is occurring. Plus seeing how this hasn't happened in 100 years, it is notable. The GOP would have had a field day with Dems had the roles been reversed.
 
I don't think anyone here is hand-wringing. @GermanSuplex pretty much nailed what is occurring. Plus seeing how this hasn't happened in 100 years, it is notable. The GOP would have had a field day with Dems had the roles been reversed.

We'd get Tucker's O face.

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Sorry you had to see that.
 
No, just pointing out that this is not unprecedented. There is just too much hand-wringing going on about not having a functioning House.
Correct it isn't unprecedented, but... It has only occurred 14 times (including this one) in 118 session of congress. Anything above 22 should be considered unprecedented because the three times it happened above that mark lead up to the civil war. I think those 3 probably stand out because of those troubling times in our history the politics was pretty bleak. If we get up above 22 then I think we all should be very frightened of what area in our history we are repeating.
 
I don't think anyone here is hand-wringing. @GermanSuplex pretty much nailed what is occurring. Plus seeing how this hasn't happened in 100 years, it is notable. The GOP would have had a field day with Dems had the roles been reversed.

Some are saying McCarthy needs to woo some Dems. Others are saying "so let me get this straight. These idiots all agreed on an Insurrection but no one can agree on a speaker. FFS." 🤡 🤡 🤡

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This is hand-wringing. So we don't have a speaker yet. BFD! The Texas Legislature only meets for 140 days EVERY OTHER YEAR. And you know what, they are doing just fine. And they have plenty of time to pass a bunch of stuff most here don't like. So thinking Congress needs to be in session immediately is BS. We as a country will be fine if they lose a few days.
 
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