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. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., rose to nominate Rep. Hakeem Jeffries for speaker in this ninth round of voting.
Jeffries has led in the eight votes conducted so far, thanks to the unanimous support of the Democratic caucus.
"Democrats are ready, willing and able to get to work for the American people," Lieu said. "We will do so under leadership of Hakeem Jeffries who has a plan for the American people."
Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, a member of the staunchly conservative House Freedom Caucus that partially opposes McCarthy, nominated the House GOP leader, arguing that McCarthy had adequately "addressed" the issues of his critics.
"I believe the 20 members who have nominated an alternate candidate have expressed their concerns with leadership, and those concerns have been addressed by Leader McCarthy and this conference. I believe this battle we are raging must end," he said.
Nehls specifically said McCarthy's concession on lowering the threshold of support needed to trigger a vote on removing a speaker was enough to ensure that he would be held accountable to his dissenters.
"This motion allows us, the Republican conference, to hold the speaker accountable. The American people gave us, my friends, us, the Republicans, the majority, and their vote of confidence to change the direction of the country," he said.
McCarthy has suffered yet another defeat.
The California congressman received 201 votes in the eighth round, matching other recent rounds. Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York won 212 votes and Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, the GOP nominee put up against McCarthy, won 17 votes.
This round, there was another Kevin -- Republican Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma -- who received votes.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Rep.-elect Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., voted for Hern, who hadn’t previously been mentioned for speaker. Hern has served in the House for four years and has been backing McCarthy for speaker.
For a second time today, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., voted for former President Donald Trump. Indiana Republican Victoria Spartz again voted present.
The eighth round of speaker voting began on Thursday after Kevin McCarthy, Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Byron Donalds, R-Fla., were again nominated.
Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., put for McCarthy as speaker favored by a majority of the GOP conference, saying he would be different from past Republican speakers and mentioning several of the Californian's critics by name.
"I vouched to my community that Kevin will do as he has promised. He will give us the opportunity to right to course," Mast said.
Rep. Kathleen Clark, D-Mass., nominated Jeffries, the Democratic leader, while panning Republican opposition to policies on guns, insulin costs and more.
"This intraparty fight that the American people have been drawn into is imperiling our national security. It will imperil the ability of this government to deliver basic services. It is imperiling our jobs and our responsibility to serve our constituents. But it is also entirely predictable. They're failing to convene Congress today, but for years they have failed to deliver their votes for the American people," Clark said.
And Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who nominated Donalds, the GOP protest nominee against McCarthy, said it was necessary to change Congress' leadership in order to change policies.
"They want something new. They want something different. And we are on a path that just continues. Where were we just 12 years ago? An $11 trillion national debt. Where are we now? Almost three times that. Both parties share blame in that. We have to bring that under control. You bring that under control not just by changing the rules of an institution but by changing the leadership," Biggs said.
"I believe if you want to make change, you have to make change. Maintaining the status quo is not an option today."
