Confrontation, anger and Donald Trump – an extraordinary night as US finally gets a new Speaker
What an extraordinary night. A Republican politician restraining another. The would-be speaker confronting the man who’d just blocked him.
And a former president calling into the chamber. All of it caught by the cameras inside House of Representatives.
Last-minute deals, angry faces, gatherings of rebels, all captured like modern-day Old Masters.
It all unfolded as the politicians gathered for their 14th vote in four days to elect a speaker – the second in line to the US presidency.
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy thought he had it in the bag this time.
He’d offered so many concessions to the small cohort of ultra-conservative Republicans who’d blocked him for days.
He’d promised them plum, hugely influential committee positions, and promised to change the rules governing his stability. That, he hoped had would get their vote.
His concessions pulled most of these Trumpian disrupters in.
But then a shock. Matt Gaetz, the maverick, controversial conservative wasn’t playing ball.
Despite enthusiastically referring to Mr McCarthy as “speaker-elect” on Fox News hours earlier, and saying he was “running out of things to ask McCarthy for”, Mr Gaetz didn’t vote for him. Ever-eager for the limelight?
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Tempers flare in Congress vote
Mr McCarthy lost. He marched to confront Mr Gaetz. They looked angry. Then from behind, another congressman approached. Republican Mike Rogers, with a few words of his own for Mr Gaetz before being restrained by another.
The cameras captured it all.
This is today’s Republican Party. And on January 6th it turns out, the anniversary of an insurrection which was fostered by some of these people.
A few yards away, another politician – conspiracy theorist, QAnon supporter and congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Green, controversial even within her own party, was holding her phone out, a call active. On the screen, the initials DT.
Donald Trump – still pulling the strings, or doing his very best to. His team say he was on the phone to several politicians in the chamber, including Mr Gaetz.
His divisive politics enabled this fringe group of ultra-conservatives, who are now disrupting on their own.
For four days Mr McCarthy had capitulated to their fringe demands. They get to call the shots because the Republican majority is so tiny.
It looked like it was all over for Mr McCarthy, for the week at least.
Kevin McCarthy smiles after winning the 15th vote in the House chamber. Pic: AP
But then the man who had voted “no” moments earlier had suddenly changed his mind.
Mr Gaetz and Mr McCarthy shook hands. Deals done, a democratic compromise? Or desperate Republican infighting which will put Mr McCarthy as Speaker in a straitjacket, the least powerful speaker in years, unable to govern, beholden to his own far right.
It’s said that Kevin McCarthy had always wanted this job.
His fans say he’s a true conservative. Not hardline but robust and fair. His detractors say he’s always put power and politics ahead of democracy and the American people.
The truth, maybe, is that he will be what those who got him over the line want him to be. He’s their man now.
Rudy Giuliani has been hospitalised following a car crash in New Hampshire, a spokesperson for the former New York City mayor said.
Mr Giuliani suffered “a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg” when his vehicle was struck from behind while driving on a highway near Manchester on Saturday evening, according to Michael Ragusa, Mr Giuliani’s head of security.
“He sustained injuries but is in good spirits and recovering tremendously,” Mr Ragusa said in a statement on X, adding: “This was not a targeted attack.”
Mr Giuliani was in a rental car and “no one knew it was him”, according to Mr Ragusa.
His head of security said the 81-year-old had been “flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident” and contacted police on her behalf. The crash shortly after was “random and unrelated” to the domestic violence incident, Mr Ragusa said.
Rudy Giuliani attended Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony in January. Pic: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via Reuters
Mr Giuliani, who worked as an attorney for Donald Trump in his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, is expected to be released from hospital in a few days.
His son, Andrew Giuliani, thanked people for reaching out after hearing about his father’s accident, writing on X: “Your prayers mean the world.”
“As a son, I can tell you that I’m honored to have a Dad that I can call the toughest SOB I’ve ever seen,” he added.
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US
US blocks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials from United Nations’ annual meeting in New York
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials have been blocked from attending September’s annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has revoked the US visas of delegates from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and denied others from applying for one.
It is the latest step by Donald Trump’s administration to target Palestinians with visa restrictions, and follows the suspension of a programme to allow injured children from Gaza to receive treatment in the US.
Mahmoud Abbas addressed the general assembly in 2024, but is barred from next month’s meeting. Pic: Reuters
“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” a statement from the US State Department said.
It added that, to be considered partners for peace, both groups “must consistently repudiate terrorism, and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO”.
Offensive will cause ‘intolerable deaths’
Several US allies, including France, Malta, and Australia have announced plans to recognise Palestine as a state at September’s United Nations General Assembly. Canada and the UK will too, unless Israel meets certain conditions.
Israel declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone on Friday.
The army launched a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation.
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Thick smoke rises from Gaza City after Israeli strikes
Foreign ministers from Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and Spain released a joint statement saying the military operations in Gaza City will cause “intolerable deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians”.
Gaza latest: Israel’s Gaza City offensive condemned
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in Gaza City while enduring famine.
An Israeli armoured vehicle in northern Gaza on Friday. Pic: AP
Palestinians ride a truck carrying humanitarian aid in Gaza City. Pic: AP
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Riyad Mansour, said Mr Abbas had planned to lead the delegation to the UN meetings and was expected to address the general assembly at the general debate, which begins on 23 September.
He was also expected to attend a high-level meeting co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on 22 September about a two-state solution, a broad idea involving Israel coexisting with an independent Palestinian state.
The State of Palestine is an observer member of the UN, meaning it can speak at meetings but not vote on resolutions.
The State of Palestine cannot vote on UN resolutions. Pic: AP
US decision ‘contravenes international law’
The Palestinian Authority “expressed its deep regret and astonishment” at the visa decision, calling it “a violation of US commitments” as the host of the UN, and claiming it “contravenes international law”.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body would be seeking clarification in the “hope that this will be resolved”.
Hundreds of diplomats left when Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu began speaking at the general assembly in 2024. Pic: Reuters
The State Department said that the Palestinian Authority’s mission to the UN, comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.
Under a 1947 UN agreement, the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York.
But Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
Read more from Sky News:
Analysis: Israel is killing a lot of journalists
Hospitals ‘overwhelmed’ by malnutrition cases
Tony Blair meets Trump over Gaza
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The death toll in Gaza has now risen to 63,025, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
It also reported five more malnutrition-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number during the war to 322, with 121 of them children.
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