The US House of Representatives has selected a new speaker after multiple rounds of voting. GOP Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has been chosen for the position following a long and contentious battle with insurgent Republicans.
Matt Gaetz, a Republican representative from Florida, led a group of 20 pro-Trump lawmakers in the Freedom Caucus who opposed McCarthy’s appointment, arguing that he was too willing to compromise with Democrats and had a history of bad policy-making.
Democrats supported New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries, who received 212 votes in the final round of voting. It was the first time in 100 years that the House required more than one round of voting to choose a speaker, with the last instance occurring in 1923. The delay in selecting a speaker had prevented lawmakers from being sworn in and the official start of the new session of Congress.