(UPDATE 4:45 p.m.: Kevin McCarthy lost his bid for House Speaker in second- and third-round voting Tuesday afternoon. Further rounds of voting are expected to continue late into the night.)

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives declined to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as House Speaker for the 118th Congress during a decisive floor vote on Tuesday afternoon.

Nineteen GOP members declined to cast their ballots for McCarthy, who could only lose four votes from the Republican caucus given the party’s slim majority control of the House.

McCarthy’s loss, which marks the first time since 1923 in which a speaker had not been seated after the first vote, means additional floor votes will be necessary to determine who will hold the gavel for the Republican House majority.

The delays may prove costly, because without a speaker, the House is unable to adopt rules, make committee assignments, or move on any legislation. It was only after nine ballots over the course of two months that a speaker was seated in 1923.

Leading up to Tuesday’s vote, as many as 20 GOP members had not publicly endorsed McCarthy. Among those were five members who were staunchly opposed – all belonging to the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, including Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, who challenged McCarthy for the Speaker’s gavel on the floor Tuesday.

Biggs ultimately won 10 GOP votes, with others casting their ballots for Republican Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio), Jim Banks (Ind.), Byron Donalds (Fla.), and Lee Zeldin (R-Ny.).

Other members of the Republican caucus who were less calcified in their opposition to McCarthy had conditioned their support on winning concessions, from promises regarding membership on standing committees to procedural agreements that would limit the power of the speakership.

Most important was a compromise struck ahead of the vote that would have allowed five members to file for a motion to vacate the speakership at any time, bringing back a House rule that cost John Boehner his speakership in 2015.

McCarthy served as House Majority Leader from 2014 to 2019 under Speakers Boehner and Paul Ryan, who both lost their gavels because of their resistance to the demands of the Freedom Caucus.

By contrast, McCarthy has embraced the most conservative members of the GOP caucus, earning support from the likes of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.).

According to media reports, in a closed-door meeting with Republican members on Tuesday morning that preceded the floor vote, McCarthy delivered a defiant speech in which he refused to make additional concessions to the ultraconservative holdouts and told his colleagues, “I earned this job.”

Representative Lauren Boebert (Colo.) reportedly shouted, “Bullshit!”

Speaking with reporters after the closed-door meeting, Greene admonished the members of her caucus who opposed McCarthy’s speakership.

During the meeting, she said, “we found out that there were several members – three, in fact – that went in last night and were demanding positions for themselves. Demanding gavel positions, demanding subcommittees, demanding for people to be taken off committees for people to be put on committees.”

Greene noted that she had not conditioned her support for McCarthy on winning any concessions for herself, despite having been stripped of her committee assignments in 2021. “This is about electing someone to serve in the speaker’s chair so that we can get to work,” she said.

The congresswoman added that “the conservatives who our base believes in, let me remind everyone: They’re not perfect either. Scott Perry [Pa.], before his general election, refused to vote against the gay marriage bill [the Respect for Marriage Act]…Then, when it came back around after his election, he was able to vote against it. Conservatives would not like that.”

Embattled freshman Republican Rep. George Santos (N.Y.) also cast his vote for McCarthy on Tuesday, having evaded reporters who were gathered this morning in front of his office in the Longworth House building.

A series of news reports over the past few weeks revealed the congressman had lied about nearly every part of his life, education, identity, and career, while his alleged financial malfeasance has triggered investigations by federal and local prosecutors.

The latest news published by The New York Times on Monday was the revival of fraud charges against Santos by authorities in his native Brazil who formally requested that the U.S. Department notify him of the charges.