US House of Representatives elects speaker on 15th attempt, after 15 votes and days of negotiations

1. The US House of Representatives elected Republican Kevin McCarthy as speaker in the 15th round of votes this week, ending four days of deadlock that stalled the lower chamber from conducting business.

McCarthy received 216 votes to win the House speakership after hours of talks to rally a majority of Republicans shortly after midnight Saturday.

The result also meant elected representatives have finally been sworn in as members of the 118th Congress, and the House can get to work.

McCarthy had been in tense negotiations for days with a small but critical group of far right conservative lawmakers who made extended demands for concessions that would essentially make it easier to depose a speaker and weaken the powers of the speaker's office to drive the legislative agenda and assign committee posts.

After McCarthy failed to secure the speakership in a 14th round of voting late Friday night, the House squashed a motion to adjourn until Monday and instead opted to continue voting in a 15th — and ultimately final — round of balloting.

McCarthy emerged victorious after Republicans Andy Biggs and Eli Crane of Arizona and Bob Good of Virginia voted "present," which lowered the threshold of support the GOP leader needed to win.

Republicans hold a 222-212 majority in the House. A total of 21 Republicans voted in opposition to McCarthy over the course of 15 ballots, before negotiating a deal with the dissenters on House rules and other political matters.
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*2. US President Joe Biden has congratulated Republican Kevin McCarthy on his election as House Speaker and expressed the readiness to work with Republicans, the White House said on Saturday.*

"Jill and I congratulate Kevin McCarthy on his election as Speaker of the House ... As I said after the midterms, I am prepared to work with Republicans when I can and voters made clear that they expect Republicans to be prepared to work with me as well," Biden said in a statement.