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Who are the 'Taliban 20' paralyzing US politics?
The House cannot perform any of its vital functions -- including overseeing national security, investigating government misconduct and passing legislation -- until its presiding officer is in place, spelling paralysis in Congress.
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Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert (R-CO) delivers remarks in the House Chamber during the second day of elections for Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 04, 2023 in Washington, DC. The House of Representatives is meeting to vote for the next Speaker after House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) failed to earn more than 218 votes on three separate Tuesday ballots, the first time in 100 years that the Speaker was not elected on the first ballot. (AFP/Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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group of Republican rebels dubbed the "Taliban 20" have brought Washington to a standstill by torpedoing party favorite Kevin McCarthy's bid to become speaker of the US House of Representatives.
The House cannot perform any of its vital functions -- including overseeing national security, investigating government misconduct and passing legislation -- until its presiding officer is in place, spelling paralysis in Congress.
The renegade Republicans were given their unflattering nickname by frustrated lawmakers from their own side. But who are they and what do they want?
Trumpist southerners
Many in the group -- which has boasted between 19 and 21 adherents depending on the ballot -- are members of the House Freedom Caucus, a collection of some of the most staunchly right-wing Republicans in the lower chamber of Congress.
They share geography too as they are dominated by southerners, mainly from Texas, Florida or Arizona.
Pennsylvania's Scott Perry is the only member living above the Mason-Dixon line that traditionally separates the southern United States from the north.
