Kevin McCarthy closes in on the speaker’s job in the US House of representatives after narrowly losing a 12th vote
Republican Kevin McCarthy appears to be closing in on the speaker’s job in the US House of Representatives after narrowly losing a 12th vote on Capitol Hill.
McCarthy needs an absolute majority to get the job but the contest has gone into a fourth day following opposition from a minority of hardlines from within his own camp.
But fourteen opponents switched sides in the latest vote – after McCarthy promised the reinstatement of a longstanding House rule that would allow any single member to call a vote to oust him from office.
The voting comes on the second anniversary of the storming of the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.
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