Republicans nominate McCarthy for Speaker of the House of Representatives Erdogan blames “supporters” YPG militias for attack

After the US congressional elections, the Republicans nominated their House of Representatives leader Kevin McCarthy as the nominee for the presidency of the House of Representatives. In a secret internal vote, the 57-year-old won Tuesday evening (local time) by 188 votes to 31 against MP Andy Biggs, who was positioned further to the right, US media reported unanimously.

McCarthy is therefore the favorite for the actual election of the important office of Speaker of the House of Representatives in January. He hopes to replace Democrat Nancy Pelosi. The person who presides over the chamber is number three in the ranking of states after the US president and his vice president.

However, the number of votes against shows that McCarthy will not have an easy time, according to the party. In the elections in January, he must obtain a majority of 218 votes in the chamber. So he depends on votes from both moderate Republicans and right-wing supporters of ex-President Donald Trump, who announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election on Tuesday.

So far, only a narrow majority for the Republicans has appeared in the House of Representatives, but the result is not yet certain. According to the AP news agency, only one seat is missing from the required majority of 218 mandates with eleven results still outstanding. US President Joe Biden’s Democrats managed to defend control of the Senate – the second chamber of Congress – in the midterm elections a week ago. (aeg/sda/dpa)