UPDATE: The House was preparing to adjourn but now there appears to be renewed discussion among Republicans
Republican Kevin McCarthy failed to win the House speakership on a 14th ballot late Friday, falling one vote short as tensions boiled over in a chaotic scene on the House floor.
Even after two key Republican holdouts voted present to lower the tally he would need, it was not enough. McCarthy strode to the back of the chamber to confront Matt Gaetz, sitting with Lauren Boebert and other holdouts. Fingers were pointed, words exchanged and colleagues stared on in disbelief.McCarthy had declared to reporters earlier in the day that he believed "we'll have the votes to finish this once and for all.
The showdown that has stymied the new Congress came against the backdrop of the second anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which shook the country when a mob of then-President Donald Trump's supporters tried to stop Congress from certifying the Republican's 2020 election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.
One significant former holdout, Republican Scott Perry, chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus who had been a leader of Trump's efforts to challenge the 2020 election, tweeted after his switched vote for McCarthy: "We're at a turning point." With 432 members now voting - including the dramatic return of Democrat David Trone who had been out for surgery - McCarthy still fell short of the majority. Six Republicans cast their ballots for a Republican colleague. McCarthy allies were counting on the return of two absent colleagues to push him even closer to the majority in nighttime voting.
Electing a speaker is normally an easy, joyous task for a party that has just won majority control. But not this time: About 200 Republicans have been stymied by 20 far-right colleagues who said he's not conservative enough.
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