US political chaos continues into 6 January Capital riots anniversary
Political chaos continues in the United States on Friday, and after eleven votes in three days the House of Representatives still hasn't elected a Speaker -- a scenario unprecedented since the US Civil War era in the 1800s.
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has been trying to stitch together a deal to secure enough votes from politicians in his own party to make him Speaker. A group of 20 right-wingers is blocking his accession to the job in a political stunt that has left Republicans in disarray and exposed anew the fragility of American democracy.
The House will be back at it Friday, with more votes on the agenda, and this time it will be against the backdrop of the second anniversary of the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol. The attack was an unimaginable scene of chaos that shook the country when a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters tried to stop Congress from certifying his election defeat.
McCarthy made no promises of a final vote that would secure him the speaker's gavel, but glimmers of a deal with at least some of the far-right holdouts who have denied him support were emerging.
“We’ve got some progress going on,” McCarthy said late Thursday, brushing back questions about the lengthy, messy process. “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”
The agreement McCarthy presented to the holdouts from the conservative Freedom Caucus and others center around rules changes they have been seeking for months. Those changes would shrink the power of the speaker’s office and give rank-and-file lawmakers more influence in drafting and passing legislation.
Even if McCarthy is able to secure the votes he needs, he will emerge as a weakened speaker, having given away some powers and leaving him constantly under
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