As many as three Republican candidates were on the ballot Thursday in the ninth ballot to elect the new speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives as Democrats continue to unanimously support New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.
The candidacy of Republican Kevin Hern of Oklahoma snuck through Thursday on the ninth ballot, garnering three votes to boycotted candidate Kevin McCarthy, who is down to 200 supporters, CNN reported.
The other nominee, Republican Byron Donalds, for New York, seems to have consolidated in the last rounds, with 17 votes while Democrat Jeffries remains with the same votes since the beginning: 212. The blockade in the House of Representatives, with a tenth round, is the longest in 164 years.
Specifically, the all-time record stands at 133 rounds of voting in the year 1855, while the second longest was 63, in 1849. Having failed, this has become the longest vote since 1834, when ten rounds were recorded, as reported by NBC News.
The House of Representatives cannot continue its business until its Speaker is elected. U.S. President Joe Biden has previously described the deadlock in the House as «shameful».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
