1 year ago
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Kevin McCarthy eked out victory on the 15th ballot, claiming the speakership, after steadily peeling away detractors throughout Friday.
He claimed the House’s top gavel after Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Bob Good (R-Va.) and Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) flipped from no to “present” over the course of two late-night ballots. The victory, after a chaotic and theatrical failure on the 14th round, marks the pinnacle of the California Republican’s time in Congress since he arrived in 2007.
But McCarthy’s four-day slog to a win underscores the challenges he will face in guiding the GOP’s narrow House majority through the rest of this Congress. In order to secure the votes, he made a series of concessions to conservatives that significantly empower his right flank.
