Jose Luis Magana Associated Press Steve Scalise came in first place an informal election organized Wednesday by the Republican Party to succeed Kevin McCarthy.
Will the US Congress finally have a speaker on Wednesday? Republican Steve Scalise came first in an informal election organized by his party to try to put an end to the historic chaos they have caused in this institution for more than a week.
Which does not, however, guarantee this elected official from Louisiana, a member of the American hard right, of access to the perch of the House of Representatives.
Fractures among the Republicans< /h2>
The American Congress is mired in an unprecedented paralysis since the impeachment on October 3 of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, victim of the divisions between moderates and Trumpists in the Republican Party.
The vast majority of the powers of this institution were suspended by this eviction. This makes it impossible for Congress to release any additional aid to Israel, a historic ally of the United States, after Hamas' surprise offensive on Saturday. Or a new package for Ukraine invaded by Russia, under discussion for weeks.
Republicans have had a majority in the House since January, which makes them responsible for electing its president. But they have been unable to agree, for more than a week, on a possible successor.
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- The leader of the House of Representatives has been impeached, a first in the United States
Conservatives met behind closed doors at 10 a.m. with the hope of ending this unprecedented vacancy. After long negotiations, Republican elected officials voted to decide between the two candidates currently vying for the perch: on one side the group leader Steve Scalise, 58, a member of the hard right, known for having survived a shooting during from baseball practice, in 2017; on the other, the pugnacious Jim Jordan, a year older, at the head of the House Judiciary Committee, sponsored by Donald Trump.
Biden urges action
Steve Scalise won this round, 113 votes to 99.
To be elected head of the House of Representatives, the 50-year-old must still win a vote in the plenary session — probably the most difficult step in this process.
This vote could be organized as early as 3 p.m.
Steve Scalise must win 217 votes to be elected speaker of the House of Representatives.
Impeached “speaker” Kevin McCarthy had to fight for 15 rounds in January, and swallow more than one snake, to reach this majority.
The Democratic Party of Joe Biden is in the minority in the House and therefore mainly spectator of the chaotic negotiations in Congress.
The Democratic president has urged Congress to take, as soon as it is able, “urgent measures” to “fund the national security imperatives of our partners.”
Without “speaker,” the US Congress will not cannot vote on a new budget for the federal state either. The latter expires in a handful of weeks, once again placing the world's leading economic power in danger of political-financial impasse.