Rep. Kevin McCarthy falls short in first vote for House speaker

Republican leader Kevin McCarthy appeared headed toward a historic defeat in first-round voting Tuesday to become House speaker, sending the new Congress into a tangle as conservative colleagues opposed his leadership.

McCarthy had pledged a "battle on the floor" for as long as it takes to overcome right-flank fellow Republicans who were refusing to give him their votes. But it was not at all clear how the embattled GOP leader grasping for political survival could avoid becoming the first House speaker nominee in 100 years to fail to win the gavel from his fellow party members on the initial vote.

With dozens of votes still to come, 19 fellow Republicans had abandoned McCarthy.

McCarthy strode into the chamber, posed for photos, and received a standing ovation from many on his side of the aisle after being nominated by the third-ranking Republican, Rep. Elise Stefanik, who said he "has what it takes" to lead House Republicans.

"No one has worked harder for this majority than Kevin McCarthy," said Stefanik, R-N.Y.

But a challenge was quickly raised by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a conservative former leader of the Freedom Caucus, who was nominated by a fellow conservative as speaker. More than a dozen Republicans peeled away, opposing McCarthy with votes for Biggs or others in protest.

The mood was tense, at least on the Republican side, as lawmakers rose from their seats, in a lengthy first round of in-person voting. Democrats were joyous as they cast their own historic votes for their leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the first Black person to lead a major American political party.

"We may have a battle on the floor, but the battle is for the conference and the country," McCarthy said earlier at the Capitol.

McCarthy emerged from a contentious closed-door meeting with fellow House Republicans unable to win over detractors and lacking the support needed to become speaker. He vowed to fight to the finish - even if it takes multiple tries in a public spectacle that would underscore divisions in his party and weaken its leadership in the first days of the new Congress.