Matt Gaetz Votes for Former President Donald Trump for Speaker of the House
WASHINGTON, D.C. (FLV) – U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-FL, changed his vote to former President Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the House in the seventh round of voting Thursday.
Three days into the newly elected 118th Congress, Republicans have thus far been unable to select a new Speaker of the House.
The GOP frontrunner for the job, U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, has been unable to reach the 218 vote threshold required to be elected speaker, despite receiving an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
Attempting to quell growing concerns over his bid for speaker, he spoke to reporters before the vote.
“Look, look you’re going to go in here, we’re gonna have votes, nothing is going to change. What we’re doing is we’re having really good progress in conversations,” McCarthy reportedly said ahead of the vote Thursday.
The Republicans have a slim 222 majority in the House of Representatives, meaning McCarthy can only afford to lose four votes from his own party.
Gaetz, changed his vote during the seventh round to Trump, although he did not nominate him ahead of the vote. He previously voted for U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-FL, in round six.
McCarthy received 201 votes, Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, received 212 votes, Donalds received 19 votes, Trump received one vote, and one voted present.
The Constitution does not require the speaker to be a member of the House of Representatives.
Gaetz previously said months ago he would nominate Trump, who announced his run for President in 2024 in November.
However, in the ninth round Thursday afternoon, Gaetz then switched his vote from Trump to U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma.
Dan Bishop, R-NC, nominated U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-FL, as Speaker.
Originally, Donalds had voted for McCarthy in the first two rounds of voting. However, after McCarthy failed to increase his vote share after the second ballot on Tuesday, Donalds changed his vote to Congressman Jim Jordan in the third round.
In a Fox News interview, Donalds said he changed his vote to Jordan because he doesn’t believe McCarthy has the necessary votes.
“I voted for Kevin on the first two ballots, and it’s just not clear that he has the votes,” he said.
By the fifth round, the 20 Republicans who voted for Jim Jordan, R-OH, switched their votes to Donalds.
Donalds spoke about the chaotic situation within the House on CNN.
“But what this is about is having a deliberative conversation about what leadership is going to be like in the nation’s capitol, in the House of Representatives,” Donalds said. “For far too long in this town, too many things have been by acclamation and that’s actually not worked for the American people.”
Florida Republicans who voted for Donalds include newly elected U.S. Rep Anna Paulina Luna, Gaetz, and Donalds himself.
The remainder of the Florida Republicans voted for McCarthy. Florida Democrats all voted for Jeffries.
The House began the eighth round of voting Thursday afternoon.
This is a developing story.
