Aye Aye Tenemos Papam Speaker

Finally a Speaker is elected after fifteen rounds of voting. The longest and most arduous since the US Civil War.
It took 15 ballots, a midnight vote & a NEAR-FIST FIGHT but Kevin McCarthy has now been elected Speaker of d House of Representatives. pic.twitter.com/g8zpMh19SM

— AMArchibong (@amarchibong) January 7, 2023

But at what cost to the Republicans?

The saga that has gripped US politics for the past week is now over and there is an elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.

It was a pretty rough ride and it is hard to see how the Republicans can benefit from this. No doubt clips of what has happened including near fisticuffs will be used by the Democrats for elections to come.

This all happened because the rules state that a Speaker had to win the support of more than 50% of the entire House of Representatives which meant that a small group wanting to stamp its authority on the party was able to have such power.

The concessions that had to be made could also come at a political price.

Mike Smithson