Republican Party representative Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives on the 15th round of voting. According to Reuters, McCarthy received 216 congressional votes, which in this case was enough to get elected, since six lawmakers did not support any of the candidates. Democrat Hakim Jeffries won 212 votes. The post of speaker of the House of Representatives is the third most important in the US government hierarchy. Until a speaker is elected, the House of Representatives cannot function normally: it is impossible to swear in congressmen, form committees, consider and pass bills.
The vote took place 15 times due to the fact that part of the Republicans did not support McCarthy, putting forward their own conditions, to which he had to agree. In particular, McCarthy made concessions and agreed with the demand of party members regarding the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Now any legislator can demand his resignation at any time, writes Reuters. Because of this, the agency notes, the new speaker will have less power to decide on critical issues, including government funding, addressing the looming national debt ceiling and other crises that may arise.
