President Joe Biden congratulated Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on his election as House speaker Saturday, saying it's time for the two parties to work together.
"The American people expect their leaders to govern in a way that puts their needs above all else, and that is what we need to do now," Biden said in a statement.
"As I said after the midterms," the president continued, "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."
After four days of GOP infighting and 15 ballots later, McCarthy was elected speaker early Saturday morning. McCarthy received 216 votes on the final ballot after six House members voted present, lowering the threshold of the 218 votes needed. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., received 212 votes.
McCarthy's win came with the backing from the Republican Conference. But in the run-up to the win, McCarthy was held up by 20 hard-line GOP members, most of which stemmed from the Freedom Caucus.
Throughout the four days, McCarthy and his allies worked with the hard-liners offering concessions on the House rules and policy plans for the upcoming session. The rules are set to be voted on Monday.
Just the News obtained a draft of the House rules and reported: "The package contains changes to the rules related to appropriations process that would allow amendments on the floor from any member regardless of the committees on which they sit, the reinstatement of the Holman rule that allows the House to strip funding for salaries of certain federal programs or cut specific government programs and allowing only one lawmaker to make a motion to remove the House speaker. "
Biden added in his statement, "It's imperative that we continue that economic progress, not set it back. It is imperative that we protect Social Security and Medicare, not slash them. It is imperative that we defend our national security, not defund it. These are some of the choices before us."
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