Tempers flared on the House floor Friday night after GOP holdouts dashed Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) hopes of victory on the 14th ballot for speaker of the House.
The hours of talks on Friday night were not enough to sway Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Bob Good (R-VA), and Matt Rosendale (R-MT).
McCarthy made headway with Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL), holdouts who voted “present” on Friday night, but without another vote in favor of McCarthy, the GOP leader fell one vote short of becoming the next speaker.
GOP lawmakers appeared stunned and angry, with Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), one of the leading negotiators of a deal between McCarthy allies and conservative hard-liners, looking visibly stressed as he attempted to sway Boebert and Gaetz to flip their votes.
Tensions were high after four grueling days of attempting to hash out a path forward. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) could be seen pulling House Armed Services Chairman-elect Mike Rogers (R-AL), whom conservatives blasted during a tense Tuesday morning conference meeting when he suggested defectors lose their committee assignments, back as he appeared to nearly get in an altercation with Gaetz over his “present” vote.
House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) told the Washington Examiner he was surprised by the move but remained confident McCarthy would prevail.
Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern (R-OK), who was slated to return to Oklahoma for his mother’s funeral on Saturday, said he was not shocked by the outcome.
“Clearly, something changed from the time they worked a deal after they got back to the floor,” he said.
Republicans eventually moved to adjourn until Monday, but the motion failed after Republicans flipped their votes when Gaetz said that he would vote for McCarthy on a 15th ballot.
