In Late-Night Session, Kevin McCarthy Wins, Becomes Speaker of the House

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, during a late-night session that began on Friday, Kevin McCarthy (D-CA) finally garnered enough votes to meet the 218 threshold, and became the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 118th Congress of the United States.

Following a failed 14th vote, the House was seemingly in disarray and some Republicans called to adjourn. However, at the last moment, some switched their votes, prompting a 15th ballot, on which McCarthy gained the gavel.

This follows a week of history-making for Republicans beginning on Tuesday when they required more than a single ballot to select the Speaker of the. House for the 118th Congress of the United States. The last time that had happened was in 1923, when nine ballots were required to elect Frederick Gillette (R-Mass.). They went on to break that record Thursday, closing the day with 11 unsuccessful ballots conducted. Going into Friday, it had not taken this long to elect a speaker in 164 years.

But, after a contentious night of drama and pettiness--as well as a ridiculous number of concessions that have some moderates concerned about the majority's ability to effectively govern--Republicans finally decided on Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader who's had his eyes set on the speakership almost since the very beginning of his political career. And it's that desperation that led to the list of concessions they find so worrisome, which include:

• Any member can call for a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair – this is significant because it would make it much easier than it is currently to trigger what is effectively a no confidence vote in the speaker. Conservatives pushed hard for this, while moderates are worried it will weaken McCarthy’s hand.

• A McCarthy-aligned super PAC agreed to not play in open Republican primaries in safe seats

• The House will hold votes on key conservative bills, including a balanced budget amendment, congressional term limits and border security

• Efforts to raise the nation’s debt ceiling must be paired with spending cuts. This could become a major issue in the future when it is time to raise the debt limit to avoid a catastrophic default because Democrats in the Senate and the White House would likely oppose demands for spending cuts

• Move 12 appropriations bills individually. Instead of passing separate bills to fund government operations, Congress frequently passes a massive year-end spending package known as an “omnibus” that rolls everything into one bill. Conservatives rail against this, arguing that it evades oversight and allows lawmakers to stick in extraneous pet projects.

• More Freedom Caucus representation on committees, including the powerful House Rules Committee

• Cap discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels, which would amount to lower levels for defense and domestic programs

• Seventy-two hours to review bills before they come to floor

• Give members the ability to offer more amendments on the House floor

• Create an investigative committee to probe the “weaponization” of the federal government

• Restore the Holman rule, which can be used to reduce the salary of government officials

The 14 votes who flipped in favor of McCarthy on the 12th ballot are: Reps. Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Michael Cloud of Texas, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Byron Donalds of Florida, Mary Miller of Illinois, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Chip Roy of Texas, Victoria Spartz of Indiana (who had been voting present and had said she would continue to do so until she saw progress), Paul Gosar of Arizona and Reps.-elect Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Keith Self of Texas and Andy Ogles of Tennessee.