WASHINGTON — 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.
McCarthy was on the cusp of becoming House speaker late Friday night as the chamber convened for a fourth historic day after he made extraordinary gains in a grueling standoff that has tested American democracy and the GOP majority’s ability to govern.
Before the vote, McCarthy had flipped 15 conservative holdouts to become supporters, including the chairman of the chamber’s Freedom Caucus, leaving him just a few shy of seizing the gavel for the new Congress.