In the final vote tally shortly after midnight on Saturday January 7, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California was elected Speaker with 216 votes followed by Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) with 211 and 6 lawmakers voting present, in the 15th and final ballot.

He was sworn in at 1:40 AM Eastern and in turn Speaker McCarthy then swore in the assembled members of the 118th Congress en masse. Afterwards the Democratic and Republican conferences appointed their leadership roles and House officers including the Clerk of the House and the House Sergeant-at-Arms who were also sworn in.

The House adjourned at 1:54 a.m. Saturday and is set to reconvene on Monday at 5 p.m. ET.

McCarthy was initially stymied again in his quest to be speaker Friday evening as the 14th floor vote was held in the chamber and it became apparent he had once again not garnered the requisite votes needed.

After two key Republican holdouts voted present to lower the tally McCarthy would need to get the gavel, a visibly angry McCarthy strode to the back of the chamber to confront Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who was seated with Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert and some of the other holdouts who had vocally opposed his speakership.

Wow McCarthy goes right to Gaetz and this conversation didn’t end well pic.twitter.com/Nbh6PdA40P

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 7, 2023

At one point, someone was heard to shout at the two lawmakers: “Stay civil!” Meanwhile, Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers had to be physically restrained from attacking Gaetz by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) and others.

There was a motion to adjourn, which initially had enough votes to carry, but was ultimately defeated. The clerk of the House, Cheryl L. Johnson, commenced the fifteenth voice roll call vote after McCarthy’s name was again put forward.

During the vote, U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) shouted: “For the 15th and final goddamn time, Kevin McCarthy”

The final path to the speaker’s chair occurred as Gaetz and Boebert, joined by other McCarthy opponents, voted present.

McCarthy’s victory required him and his allies to make extraordinary concessions to the bloc of far-right holdouts.

These included changes to House rules that empowered the House Freedom Caucus, and a new rules package. CNN reported that package included:

• Any member can call for a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair – this is significant because it would make it much easier than it is currently to trigger what is effectively a no confidence vote in the speaker. Conservatives pushed hard for this, while moderates are worried it will weaken McCarthy’s hand.
• A McCarthy-aligned super PAC agreed to not play in open Republican primaries in safe seats

• The House will hold votes on key conservative bills, including a balanced budget amendment, congressional term limits and border security
• Efforts to raise the nation’s debt ceiling must be paired with spending cuts. This could become a major issue in the future when it is time to raise the debt limit to avoid a catastrophic default because Democrats in the Senate and the White House would likely oppose demands for spending cuts
• Move 12 appropriations bills individually. Instead of passing separate bills to fund government operations, Congress frequently passes a massive year-end spending package known as an “omnibus” that rolls everything into one bill. Conservatives rail against this, arguing that it evades oversight and allows lawmakers to stick in extraneous pet projects.
• More Freedom Caucus representation on committees, including the powerful House Rules Committee
• Cap discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels, which would amount to lower levels for defense and domestic programs
• 72 hours to review bills before they come to floor
• Give members the ability to offer more amendments on the House floor
• Create an investigative committee to probe the “weaponization” of the federal government
• Restore the Holman rule, which can be used to reduce the salary of government officials

The White House released a statement from President Joe Biden:

“Jill and I congratulate Kevin McCarthy on his election as speaker of the House. The American people expect their leaders to govern in a way that puts their needs above all else, and that is what we need to do now.  
 
As I said after the midterms, I am prepared to work with Republicans when I can and voters made clear that they expect Republicans to be prepared to work with me as well.  Now that the leadership of the House of Representatives has been decided it is time for that process to begin.”

It was the first time in a century that the gavel was not passed with the first ballot, paralyzing the House as new lawmakers could not be seated and activity like committee assignments and legislation was ground to a halt.

McCarthy had faced an obstinate group of about 20 hardline GOP members, despite having won the endorsement of influential conservative media figures, former president Donald Trump, and ultraconservative members of the conference like U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.).

Signs that the dam was breaking began to emerge Friday amid reporting that the Republican leader made more concessions, such as by agreeing to a rules change that would allow for any GOP member to call for a vote to vacate the speakership at any time and for any reason.

Partly as a consequence of the conditions to which he agreed to earn their support, McCarthy’s autonomy over the gavel is expected to be compromised by the ultraconservative faction of the House GOP caucus whose power was just demonstrated during the speakership election.

McCarthy has long been an opponent of LGBTQ rights. The Republican Leader cosigned the House GOP’s legal defense of the Defense of Marriage Act during the Obama administration in 2011, later co-authoring an amicus brief supporting the legislation to the U.S. Supreme Court.

More recently, in 2022 McCarthy voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which codifies key protections for LGBTQ people as a safeguard if the Supreme Court overturns or weakens the constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

The Human Rights Campaign awards McCarthy a score of “0” for his record in the legislature.