US finally gets McCarthy as House Speaker at 15th attempt

Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives early on Saturday after falling short in 14 previous rounds of voting.

Mr McCarthy had been stymied by a group of about 20 Republicans holding personal or ideological grievances against him.

Despite him offering a string of concessions, the rebels did not budge in their opposition during 11 votes earlier this week.

McCarthy was declared elected with 216 out of 428 votes, triggering chants of “USA” in the House.

“I hope one thing is clear after this week: I will never give up. And I will never give up for you, the American people.,” he said in a tweet after his election.

President Joe Biden, who had earlier described the drawn-out election of a speaker as “not a good look”, said it was now time to “govern responsibly and to ensure that we’re putting the interests of American families first”.

“As I said after the midterms, I am prepared to work with Republicans when I can, and voters made clear that they expect Republicans to be prepared to work with me as well,” Mr Biden said.

“Now that the leadership of the House of Representatives has been decided, it is time for that process to begin.”

Without a speaker, the chamber was unable to swear-in members and begin its 2023-24 session.

The election saga and scenes of chaos in the House have raised questions about whether America is vulnerable from a national security standpoint, as without the chamber, wars cannot be started or ended.

To secure the gavel, McCarthy had to chip away at opposition from a bloc of hardline conservatives in what became the longest contest in 164 years.

To win over critics, McCarthy and his allies made a series of concessions to conservatives – a move that frustrated moderates concerned the concessions may make it harder for the new GOP majority to effectively govern.