McCarthy finally won the speaker's gavel after historic 15 rounds of voting.
The House Republican leadership standoff ended early Saturday morning with Kevin McCarthy winning the speaker's gavel on a historic 15th vote.
It was the longest such election since 1859.
The drama stretched into a fourth day Friday with three more failed votes to decide on a speaker after 11 others over Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday -- the last one ending in a heated one-vote loss at the hands of holdout Matt Gaetz.
McCarthy had been stymied by a small group of hardliners demanding concessions to reshape how the House is run and legislation it prioritizes.
Rep. McCarthy has arrived for a closed-door meeting with his fellow Republicans.
"We are going to have a good day today," McCarthy said as he walked by reporters, who asked if he had the votes for speaker.
The California congressman then laughed as a reporter asked if he'd support Rep. Steve Scalise for speaker should he fail to get enough votes.
Hours before the vote to elect a new House speaker, a sign has appeared in front of the speaker's office with the message: "Follow Kevin McCarthy."
McCarthy was set to shore up more support for his speaker bid in a closed-door meeting with the Republican caucus this morning. He faces opposition from a group of hard-line conservatives, who could sink what is his second attempt to hold the gavel.
The California congressman's belongings have been brought into the speaker's suite, but if he doesn't get enough votes, he'll have to move out.
The House Republican conference will meet behind closed doors at 9:30 a.m., just hours before the speaker vote begins at noon.
While McCarthy might be able to garner more support in a last-ditch appeal, his detractors have boasted that they'll be able to muster the necessary opposition to block his bid.
Rep. Scott Perry, the chair of the House Freedom Caucus who is leading the group of hard-line conservatives opposing McCarthy's bid, released a new statement Tuesday morning blasting the California congressman.
"In his 14 years in Republican Leadership, McCarthy has repeatedly failed to demonstrate any desire to meaningfully change the status quo in Washington," Perry said.
Kevin McCarthy began his career as a staffer to then-Rep. Bill Thomas before chairing the California Young Republicans and later the Young Republican National Federation.
He was first elected to office in 2002, serving in the California state Assembly until 2007, when was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. At the time, he was dubbed one of the “young guns” of the next generation of conservative leadership.
McCarthy tried to become speaker in 2015 but his chance evaporated after resistance from the same kind of conservatives who are trying to block his path Tuesday. When Democrats took control of the House in 2018, McCarthy was elected House minority leader.
Read more about McCarthy’s background here.
