Rep. Kevin McCarthy wins House speakership: Live updates | CNN Politics (2024)

Newly-elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy thanked former President Donald Trump for helping him get the votes, telling reporters: “I don’t think anybody should doubt his influence.”

McCarthy, who spoke with Rep. Matt Gaetz on the floor between the 14thand 15thballot, told CNN’s Manu Raju: “At the end of the night, Matt got everybody there from the point that nobody voted against the other way, so it actually helped unite people.”

The new House speaker also thanked some of the core negotiators by name — Reps. Garret Graves, Patrick McHenry, Bruce Westerman, Scott Perry, Chip Roy and French Hill.

House drama: McCarthy said he is “1,000%” confident he will serve out his term, even with the new one-person threshold on the motion to vacate.

He also dismissed concerns that tonight’s drama on the floor is a taste of what is to come in the House over the next two years.

“I think by having the disruption now, really built the trust with one another and learned how to work together,” he said. “What we’re going to have to find in our mindset is that we have to frontload. We have to think about and work on the bills with a microcosm of the conference before we even start writing it. And that’s really what we learned here.”

Now that a House speaker has been selected following a dayslong stalemateand members have finally been sworn in, the chamber can look toward picking back up business and organizing GOP-led committees.

Every new Congress must pass a new set of House rules, and doing so will be the top of the 118th Congress’ to-do list when the House reconvenes Monday.

With House Republicans’ majority, comes a newfound power to set the agenda — investigative and legislative.

Legislative agenda: House Republicans will be limited in their ability to pass bills through Congress with Democrats in control of the Senate and the White House — where the president can exercise veto power over legislation. Still, House Republicans will be able to push messaging bills that highlight their agenda.

In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with CNN ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy outlined his plans for power.

Those plans include:

There will also be some must-pass policy issues — like funding the government — that will test the ability of Republicans and Democrats to work together.

Read more about what Republicans plan to do with their new House majority here.

The House is now adjourned until5 p.m.Monday.

Lawmakers were in the chamber until early Saturday morning after late-night voting to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, followed by the swearing-in of all members of the 118th Congress.

Members of the 118th Congress were sworn in early Saturday morning after days of deadlock in the House speaker election that prevented them from assuming their roles.

The new Congress features a record-setting number of women and several history makers, from the House’s first Gen-Z lawmaker to the longest-serving woman in congressional history.

Newly-elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was sworn in before the members, and now Congress can resume business.

The chamber is expected to vote on a House Rules package Monday.

The first bill considered by the new House of Representatives will address a Biden administration initiative to hire additional IRS agents over a 10-year period, Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Saturday morning.

“I know the night is late, butwhen we come back our very firstbill will repeal the funding for87,000 new IRS agents,” he said amid applause from the Republican caucus. “You see, we believe governmentshould be to help you, not goafter you.”

Some background: TheRepublican National Committeeand several Republican lawmakers have criticized new IRS funding, claiming that it will provide the agency with an “army of 87,000 new IRS agents.”

But that number is misleading. TheTreasury Department estimatedin 2021 that a nearly $80 billion investment in the IRS could allow the agency to hire 86,852 full-time employees over the course of a decade. But that figure accounts for all workers, not solely enforcement agents.

Kevin McCarthy has been sworn in as House speaker of the 118th Congress.

After days of deadlock and major concessions, McCarthy secured enough votes to be speaker in the 15th round of voting early Saturday morning.

The other members of Congress were also sworn-in, clearing the path for a vote on the House Rules package.

CNN previously reported that the vote is likely to be on the floor Monday.

In his first speech as House speaker, Kevin McCarthy told his colleagues, “Now the hard work begins.”

McCarthy also used the remarks to “talk directly to the American people.”

CNN previously reported that McCarthy denied that Rep. Matt Gaetz was offered chairmanship of a subcommittee in exchange for his “present” vote on speaker that ultimately helped him secure victory.

“No onegetspromised anything,” McCarthy said.

Speaker-elect Kevin McCarthy said the new House of Representatives wants the US to win the economic competition with China, referring to the country as the “Chinese Community Party.”

In his first remarks as speaker early Saturday morning, McCarthy said, “We’ll also address America’slong-term challenges, the debtand the rise of the Chinesecommunist party.”

He added:

“As for the Chinese communistparty, we will create abipartisan select committee onChina to investigate how tobring back the hundreds ofthousands of jobs that went toChina, and then we will win thiseconomic competition.”

GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy opened his first speech as newly elected House speaker with a nod to the many rounds of voting to secure the victory.

After weeks of negotiating and days of deadlock, it took 15 rounds of voting for McCarthy to secure enough votes from GOP hardliners.

After 15 rounds of voting held over five days, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has been elected speaker of the US House of Representatives.

The deciding vote started Friday night and ended early Saturday morning. It also came after a dramatic failed ballot where McCarthy came up one vote short and confronted US Rep. Matt Gaetz on the House floor.

See all the photos from the speaker stalemate this past week.

The House won’t vote on a rules package tonight, according to a congressional aide.

CNN previously reported during the 15th round of voting that it was uncertain whether the chamber will vote on a package tonight.

The chamber may come back Monday to pass the package.

Without an approved House Rules package by the end of business on Jan. 13, committees won’t be able to pay staff.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that the concessions Rep. Kevin McCarthy made to become House speaker “will cause a government shutdown or a default with devastating consequences to our country.”

“Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s dream job could turn into a nightmare for the American people,” Schumer said in a statement following McCarthy’s win. “To get the votes, he surrendered to demands of a fringe element of the Republican party.”

Read the list of key concessions and promises McCarthy and his allies have made over the course of the negotiations here.

President Joe Biden issued a statement congratulating Speaker-elect Kevin McCarthy on his win.

In his statement, the president said:

“Jill and I congratulate Kevin McCarthy on his election as Speaker of the House. AsI said after the midterms,I am prepared to work with Republicans when I can andvoters 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.”

Donald Trumpis weighing in now that Kevin McCarthy has been elected.

“The ‘Speaker’ selection process, as crazy as it may seem, has made it all much bigger and more important than if done the more conventional way.Congratulationsto Kevin McCarthy and our GREAT Republican Party!”Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The post comes after the former president made some last-minute calls and spoke to Reps. Andy Biggs and Matt Gaetz while they were on the House floor, a source told CNN.

He called after it appeared Rep. Kevin McCarthy was not going to secure the speakership.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries has just made history, becoming the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress.

The New York congressman will lead Democrats in the House, succeeding Nancy Pelosi, who served as speaker in the prior session of Congress. In addition to being the first Black lawmaker to attain such a position, he is also the first leader of the House Democrats to be born after the end of World War II.

Jeffries, at 52, marks the end of an era – and the start of a new one – for Democrats as he takes up his new position.

House Democrats selected Jeffries to helm their party during a closed-door election in November. He ran unopposed. Now, Jeffries will be at the forefront of the House Democratic minority for the next two years with Republicans holding a slim majority in the chamber.

“I just look forward to the opportunity to do the most good for the greatest number of people possible for as long as I have the opportunity to do so and can operate at the highest level,” he previously told CNN.

His rise in leadership came after Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn announced they would be stepping down from their current leadership positions. Pelosi was designated “Speaker Emerita” in a unanimous vote by the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee on Nov. 29.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy has been elected House speaker after multiple days of negotiations and 15 rounds of voting.

The final tally was 216 votes for McCarthy, 212 for Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries with six representatives voting “present.”

Republicans previouslyagreed to nominate McCarthy, but his path to the speakership was uncertain after a group of GOP holdouts threatened to derail his bid.

Several days of gridlock gave way to dramatic moments late Friday evening. In the 14th round, an extraordinary scene erupted, with McCarthy confronting Rep. Matt Gaetz, whose vote on that ballot could have given him the role he has sought for so long.

After a failed motion to adjourn until Monday, McCarthy finally had the votes to secure the position.

When the win was announced, Reps. Steve Scalise, Elise Stefanik, and Ryan Zinke, the last member to vote, all ran over to McCarthy with their vote cards for him to sign.

The entire GOP conference was on their feet clapping. McCarthy hugged many members that came up to him and waved to folks in the gallery.

McCarthy came off the floor, expressing relief saying, “I’m glad it’s over.”

He also denied Rep. Matt Gaetz was offered chairmanship of a subcommittee in exchange for his “present” vote on speaker and said it would be up to the steering committee to decide those appointments.

“No one gets promised anything,” McCarthy said. “Whatever happens in steering.”

The GOP only holds a slimmajority in the chamber – 222 Republicans compared with 212 Democrats – which meant McCarthy could not afford many defections.

McCarthy represents California and previously served as House minority leader. McCarthy has already vowed to launch multiple investigations into President Joe Biden and his administration.

Now, the House can proceed with the rest of its business, including administering the oath of office to newly elected members.

CNN’s Ted Barrett and Kit Maher contributed to this report.

When asked for his message to Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters, “Let’s see what happens when the votes are tallied.”

While the vote is still underway, McCarthy appears to have clinched enough support to win speakership in the 15th round of voting.

The 118th Congress will see a record-setting number of women.

Below is a breakdown by numbers of the new House.

Breakdown by party:

Republicans had a net gain of nine seats in 2022 elections.

Freshmen class:There will be 75 freshmen House members in the 118thCongress. Republicans defeated five Democratic incumbents, while Democrats defeated only two sitting Republicans.

Freshmen: 75

2022 flipped House districts

Total: 25

Women:The 118thCongress will see a record number of women in the House. The number of Democratic and Republican women in the House both match previous record highs.

Total: 124

Freshmen women: 22

Rep. Kevin McCarthy appears to have flipped enough GOP hardliners to become House speaker after 15 rounds of voting, ending a dramatic deadlock.

The final vote comes after multiple days of negotiations and a stunning defeat for the California congressman in the 14th round of voting, where McCarthy and his allies had earlier expressed optimism that he would finally secure the position.

Once the vote is finalized, the House can proceed with the rest of its business, including administering the oath of office to newly elected members.

Rep. Matt Gaetz voted “present” in the 15th round of voting for House speakership.

Gaetz also voted present in the 14th round after initially walking out the chamber when his name was first called.

CNN previously reported that former President Donald Trump spoke to Gaetz after it appeared Rep. Kevin McCarthy was not going to secure the speakership.

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida is expected to switch his vote from “present” to “yes,” in theory giving Rep. Kevin McCarthy the votes to become speaker, multiple lawmakers tell CNN.

The GOP now believes it can get McCarthy his long-sought position on the 15th ballot.

On the floor: GOP lawmakers made a last-minute move and stopped the motion to adjourn to vote on the speakership one more time.

GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy has been nominated for a 15th ballot after a chaotic scene erupted on the House floor.

McCarthy failed to secure enough support during a 14th round of voting earlier tonight.

An extraordinary scene erupted as McCarthy confronted Rep. Matt Gaetz, whose vote could have given him the role he has sought for so long.

A motion to adjourn the House until noon on Monday failed, setting up another round of voting for speaker.

The motion came after Rep. Kevin McCarthy failed to secure enough votes in the 14th round of voting.

Republican leadership thought GOP Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana would vote “present,” along with Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, in order to deliver McCarthy the speaker’s gavel, multiple sources tell CNN.

But that fell apart on the floor at the last minute and is part of what led to the chaos that is unfolding.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy has lost a 14th round of voting to secure the speaker’s gavel despite earlier optimism among his allies.

The defeat for McCarthy followed a tense exchange with Rep. Matt Gaetz on the House floor.

The final tally was 216 votes for McCarthy, 212 for Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, two for Rep. Andy Biggs and two for Rep. Jim Jordan. In addition, there were two “present” votes.

Following his loss, CNN saw McCarthy trying to be upbeat to the supporters around him.

After Rep. Matt Gaetz voted “present” in the 14th ballot for House speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy went over to talk to the Florida congressman.

Gaetz pointed fingers at McCarthy and when McCarthy walked away, Rep. Mike Rogers lunged at Gaetz.

If Gaetz doesn’t flip his vote to yes, McCarthy cannot win speakership, based on the tally so far in the voting.

Two sources tell CNN that Gaetz wants to adjourn chamber until Monday.

Rep. Matt Gaetz wants to adjourn chamber until Monday, according to two sources.

Gaetz voted “present” in the 14th ballot for House speaker. He has previously voted against Rep. Kevin McCarthy.

GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz voted “present” in the 14th ballot for House speaker. He has previously voted against Rep. Kevin McCarthy.

He initially left the chamber when his name was called the first time, building to a dramatic down-to-the-wire vote.

Gaetz was one of the six remaining GOP holdouts after 13 rounds of voting, along with Rep. Lauren Boebert who also voted “present.”

GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert voted “present” in the 14th ballot for House speaker.

CNN had previously reported that this was a possibility.

While some key GOP holdouts have yet to budge, Boebert’s vote could lower the threshold for Rep. Kevin McCarthy to become speaker.

The House is now voting on a 14th ballot for House speaker.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy has momentum, but he needs a handful of GOP hardliners to either flip their vote or vote “present” to bring the threshold for the majority down. Six Republicans did not vote for him on the last ballot.

With the speakership election in its fourth day, the House cannot move forward with any other business until a leader is elected.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy said, “I sure hope so,” when asked if he has the votes tonight to become speaker as he was walking to the House floor.

“Let’s just wait and see how it goes,” he said as he was swarmed by reporters peppering him with questions.

Asked about whether there is any moderate GOP opposition to the rules package, he said, “It’s going to be interesting time.”

GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy has been nominated for a 14th ballot as he works to get enough votes to win the House speakership.

His nomination was made by Rep. Patrick McHenry.

McCarthy’s team says he is trying to clinch the speakership tonight — after voting that has stretched over four days now.

Rep. Pete Aguilar nominated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries for speaker on behalf of the Democratic caucus.

A small group of GOP lawmakers — Rep. Patrick McHenry, Rep. Dan Bishop. Rep. French Hill, and Rep. Scott Perry — left incoming House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office and walked into the speaker’s office.

As they walked, Perry said of the speaker’s race, “Nothing’s done until it’s done.”

Asked if they had the votes to pass the rules package tonight, Perry replied, “I sure hope so.”

Hill said, “We’ll see what happens.”

Three holdouts on supporting Rep. Kevin McCarthy — Reps. Andy Biggs, MatthewRosendale and Eli Crane — all entered the House chamber together.

They would not answer questions, including whether they’d vote “present.”

In an about-face, GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert expressed optimism that Kevin McCarthy will become speaker in a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity less than an hour before members are set to go back to vote for speaker for a 14thtime.

While Gaetz and Boebert, who have voted against McCarthy on all 13 previous ballots and even nominated opponents to McCarthy, expressed vague optimism Friday night, Hannity did not press either of them for how specifically they would vote on the floor.

“I am excited and encouraged, I am grateful that speaker-designate McCarthy has been so receptive to each and every change that we have demanded” said Gaetz, who earlier this week called McCarthy a squatter for occupying the Speaker’s office before being officially elected.
“I’m very optimistic about where we are right now,” Gaetz added.

Gaetz compared the negotiations between the holdouts and McCarthy to a prenuptial agreement: “Sometimes there could be some uncomfortable moments in the preparation, but it can be necessary.”

“We may have a few finishing touches. We may be able to get this resolved tonight. But I am proud of the entire Republican Conference” Gaetz added.

Two days ago, Gaetz told CNN that McCarthy is “a desperate guy whose vote share is dropping with every subsequent vote and I’m ready to vote all night, all week, all month, and never for that person.”

Boebert told Hannity on Friday:

“We’ll see how tonight goes. I think that there are some things that we need to get locked in.”

But when asked if specifically by Monday McCarthy would be speaker and if she would have the assurances she needs, Boebert said, “I sure hope by Monday we see something, something that is promising to deliver for the American people and I truly believe that after months of the negotiations that we’ve seen, and a few extra days even of being assembled on the House floor, Republicans are going to be far more prepared to lead and more prepared to govern than ever before.”

Boebert said on the floor earlier this week: “Kevin McCarthy you do not have the votes and it’s time to withdraw.”

House GOP leaders are working behind the scenes to head off a brewing revolt over the rules package that needs to be adopted in order to set the parameters for how the chamber will function over the next two years, according to GOP sources.

Members are upset they’ve been in the dark about the concessions that Rep. Kevin McCarthy made to the far-right in order to secure the votes to win the speakership. They are griping they’ve learned more about those concessions in the news media and that there’s only been one conference call since the speaker’s election began on Tuesday, according to multiple sources.

The rules package, which is slated to be voted on after the speakership is set, includes some of the concessions that McCarthy gave to the far-right, including allowing any one member to call for a vote seeking the ouster of a sitting speaker.

But there’s grumbling in the ranks that members have not had enough time to review the rules package, and at least one member — Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas — said he would vote against it.

Top Republicans believe they can limit defections to less than five Republicans. But the difficulty in locking down the votes underscores how hard it will be to govern in the narrowly divided House.

Reps. Scott Perry and Chip Roy, who had been on opposing Rep. Kevin McCarthy until they flipped to support him today, expressed some optimism about McCarthy’s chances of winning the speakership tonight.

Roy said on Fox News that one of the key concessions GOP holdouts got that persuaded them to support McCarthy was an independent budget for a committee that would probe the FBI and Justice Department, instead of being solely controlled by the House Judiciary Committee.

Rep. Jim Jordan, incoming Judiciary Committee chairman, was deeply involved in the negotiations talks largely for this reason because these investigations will fall under his purview.

Perry, when asked by reporters if McCarthy would clinch the speaker’s vote tonight, responded: “I expect us to go to the floor and do our best.”

He would not give an estimate on how many McCarthy holdouts would change their vote this evening, and said there was momentum today “so maybe some people will get on the wave.”

When asked about the possibility of the rules package passing, Roy also said: “we’ll see we’re working through that.”

The House RulesCommittee has released the text of the rules package that will govern the 118th Congress.

The package includes provisions agreed to between Rep. Kevin McCarthy and some of the more conservative members of his conference, including a one-member threshold for a motion to vote to oust the speaker.

Moderate Republicans are beginning to balk at some of the terms in the package, and have threatened to vote against it.

The House has reconvened to vote for a speaker after lawmakers voted earlier Friday to adjourn until 10 p.m. ET.

GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy gained more support in the 13th round of voting but ultimately failed to win the speakership.

McCarthy’s team believes they have the votes to win tonight and are already taking steps to organize the House soon after his expected victory, according to multiple GOP sources.

Embattled Rep.-elect George Santos, who said he spoke to Rep. Kevin McCarthy today, said there is “no need” to have conversations with the GOP leader about potentially not getting committee assignments.

His comments come after revelations that the New York Republican lied about key parts of his biography.

“I have no need to have those conversations with him,” Santos told reporters Friday night.
“Why’s that?” a reporter asked.
“It’s the people’s House,” he responded.

Santos again did not answer questions about whether he feels he misled his constituents, about the fraud charges being reinstated against him in Brazil or about lies in his resume. CNN has asked the congressman-elect dozens of questions over the past several days about the federal probe into his finances and the lies he’s told, and he has not responded to those questions.

When asked if there were any assurances made to him in exchange for his support of McCarthy for speaker, Santos said: “I’ve supported Kevin McCarthy since day one, I don’t know what you guys are talking about.”

GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz told CNN he is still “taking a look” at the House rules package that could come to a floor vote tonight if Rep. Kevin McCarthy is elected speaker.

The Florida congressman, who has declined to support McCarthy in any of the previous 13 votes for speaker, would not answer when asked repeatedly if he is open to voting present during the next vote at 10 p.m. ET.

But Gaetz said of the framework agreement between McCarthy and the original 20 GOP holdouts:

Some background:CNN previously reported that McCarthy and his allies are trying to convince some of the holdouts to simply vote “present” (rather than for or against him) to help lower the threshold of votes needed for McCarthy to become speaker.

McCarthy does not technically need 218 votes. A majority of those present and voting is required to get thespeakership, which is usually 218 lawmakers. But if enough people skip the vote or vote “present,” the number of votes required for a majority can drop. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was electedwith 216 votes in 2021.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s team believes they have the votes to win the speakership tonight and are already taking steps to organize the House soon after his expected victory, according to multiple GOP sources.

It’s still unclear which members will flip their votes to “present” or in favor of McCarthy.

McCarthy allies have told members to prepare for a very late night to approve a rules package after they are sworn into office, the sources say.

Those final votes could stretch past midnight.

Rep. Byron Donalds flipped his vote to Rep. Kevin McCarthy on Friday, but at one point during the ongoing speaker race, he received the support of 19 fellow members.

“It was super humbling to see members — by voice — in front of the world say, I want this guy to lead us, and it’s something I’ll never forget the rest of my life,” Donalds told CNN, walking through Statuary Hall.

Donalds said he’s “probably not” open to the possibility of being speaker at some point in the future, but he respects being considered.

“It’s just not the job I think I want to do, but what I do respect is you know, my colleagues’ view of me as a leader in this chamber. And so, you know, sometimes you have to step into that gap to try to either forge consensus or get something done. And, you know, I’m just glad I was able to be a part of that,” Donalds said.

Asked how it felt to see his name in the running, Donalds gushed, “It was cool. Oh my god.”

Searching for more words, he said: “It was surreal. It was wild.”

Donalds didn’t shut the door completely to the possibility of future leadership.

“You can’t plan this stuff. I think people have goals of what they want to accomplish. But a lot of the times, this is a decision that happens, and then you walk down that path,” he said.

Donalds made history this week as one of the only two Black Americans – along with Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries – to be nominated for speaker.

Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado is among the GOP holdouts considered to be in the mix to vote “present” when the House reconvenes at 10 p.m. ET, multiple sources tell CNN.

CNN previously reported that Rep. Kevin McCarthy and his allies are trying to convince some of the holdouts to simply vote “present” (rather than for or against him) to help lower the threshold of votes needed for McCarthy to become speaker.

GOP Reps. Matt Rosendale and Eli Crane are also considered top targets of McCarthy allies in these final hours before returning to the floor, but it wasn’t previously known Boebert is a possibility.

Remember:McCarthy does not technically need 218 votes to become speaker. A majority of those present and voting is required to get thespeakership, which is usually 218 lawmakers. But if enough people skip the vote or vote “present,” the number of votes required for a majority can drop. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was electedwith 216 votes in 2021.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, set to be the highest-ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, criticized Kevin McCarthy for trading spending cuts in exchange for votes for his bid to become speaker.

“We cannot have a future speaker trading funding that helps communities and protects our national security for personal gain,” she said in a statement.

“Appropriations bills are must-pass bills. In order to pass them, there has to be a bipartisan, bicameral agreement like Democrats secured in December. Given the rumors swirling around Representative-elect Kevin McCarthy’s secret spending deals, it does not appear that Republicans understand the appropriations process,” the statement adds.

Some context: McCarthy has made many concessions and promises to lawmakers over the course of negotiations. One of those, according to CNN reporting, would be to cap discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels, which would amount to lower levels for defense and domestic programs.

The Biden administration on Friday announced its largest drawdown yet in US military assistance to Ukraine, but there are lurking concerns that Republicans wielding newfound power in Washington could stand in the way of future aid – especially as chaos brews in the House.

The administration announced a new $2.85 billion drawdown for Ukraine, part of more than $3 billion in new military assistance to Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the administration would work with Congress to “to provide an additional $907 million of Foreign Military Financing under the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022.”

California GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who served as House minority leader in the last session and is now pursuing the House speakership,said in October that Republicans might pull back funding for Ukraine in 2023if they took the majority in the 2022 midterm elections. Still, after making those comments the GOP leader worked behind the scenes to reassure national security leaders in his conference that he wasn’t planning to abandon Ukraine aid and was just calling for greater oversight of any federal dollars.

But there’s now concern that McCarthy’s troubled bid for the speakership – a history-defying effort that has led to more than a dozen unsuccessful votes this week – could put further limitations on Ukraine aid.

Two of the Republicans who had opposed McCarthy until Friday afternoon – Florida Rep. Byron Donalds and Texas Rep. Chip Roy –had called on the House to change leadership and debate rules over Ukraine aid. Other Ukraine aid skeptics have continued to oppose McCarthy’s bid.

Several Republican members who switched their votes to support McCarthy on Friday said they are encouraged by a framework of an agreement, but provided no specifics about the deal and said talks are ongoing.

Read more:

After more than a dozen votes held over four days, Rep. Kevin McCarthy hasn’t been able to secure the support he needs to become the next speaker of the US House of Representatives.

But he may have some momentum after flipping 15 GOP holdout votes on Friday. Following the 13th failed vote — the second of the day — the House voted to adjourn until 10 p.m. ET.

See some of the best photos from inside the chamber and around the Capitol on Friday:

See more photos from the historic voting session in the House.

Part of Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s strategy to win the vote for speaker is to get some of the holdouts to vote “present,” according to several sources.

That would reduce the threshold for winning the race below 218 since the rules say the winner of the race needs to have a majority of those voting for a specific candidate.

If two vote “present,” the winning number is still 217. If three vote “present,” that takes it down to 216 to win.

But if just one person votes “present,” McCarthy would still need to flip a member to win.

Rep. Andy Biggs said he still will not vote for Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker in a tweet.

“I’m still holding the line. If we can’t make a change when there is an opportunity to do it, then when can we? I’m not going to participate in the continuation of the Uniparty. Neither should our constituents,” he said.

Biggs is one of the six lawmakers that refused to change their vote to McCarthy even after extensive negotiations.

Rank-and-file Republicans, who have backed Rep. Kevin McCarthy for speaker, say they believe momentum is on their side for the House speaker vote to be done tonight.

Texas Republican Rep. Troy Nehls told CNN that “we’re moving in the right direction” but urged Republicans to get this done tonight so the House can come back on Monday and “get some work done.”

“Hopefully we’re not here tomorrow, because I want to go home as well just like everybody else. But we get this done tonight, hopefully go home tomorrow, come back Monday morning. Everybody else in America is getting up at seven o’clock to go to work that we need to be here Monday, and let’s get some work done,” he said.

Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska told reporters that McCarthy allies “definitely have the momentum.”

“As long as we keep chipping away and going the right direction, I hope it is tonight,” he said. “We definitely have the momentum. I think we still have one or two votes we have to nail down, but that’s what they’re working on.”

Asked if Republicans can govern, Bacon replied, “Yes, but this was not a positive start. However, I think Kevin McCarthy has a good point. We’re going to work out the problems now. If we can work out the problem now, this puts us in a better spot coming out of this.”

House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik told CNN that she is “confident Kevin McCarthy will be elected speaker of the House, as I’ve said a year ago, a year and a half ago, two years ago.”

She praised the vast majority of their conference for rallying around McCarthy: “As you can see, Republicans are unified today and we’re working towards firing Nancy Pelosi once and for all.”

“I am optimistic we are in a great place,” she added.

Rep.-elect Eli Crane of Arizona, one of the top targets of a fervent lobbying campaign by Kevin McCarthy allies, told CNN exclusively he has not been swayed and will not vote for McCarthy for speaker.

He pointed to the word “Representative” on the plaque next to his door and said, “It’s that simple. A lot of people forget that up here.”

Here is a list of some of the major concessions and promises McCarthy has made over the course of the negotiations, according to CNN reporting.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s allies have gone to extraordinary lengths to help lock up the speakership — which, in some cases, has involved great personal sacrifice.

Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt just had a baby a few days ago who had to spend some time in the NICU. He flew back to Texas to be with his wife and newborn but is now expected to return to Washington later today, according to McCarthy.

Republican Rep. Ken Buck, meanwhile, flew back to Colorado yesterday for a pre-planned medical procedure and is also coming back to Washington.

Sources also tell CNN that GOP Rep. Kevin Hern is willing to stay in Washington over the weekend if there are votes and he is needed. He was initially planning to be out of town this weekend for his mother’s funeral.

Meanwhile, across the aisle, there has also been all out effort to stop McCarthy. Democratic Rep. David Trone had shoulder surgery Friday morning and came to the Capitol after in hospital slippers.

It all shows how the once-in-a-century speaker fight has taken a personal toll on members.

Republican Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah indicated that while it is “likely” that Kevin McCarthy gets elected House speaker tonight, he said voting could possibly go one more round on Saturday.

“We’ve got 14, maybe even 15 [rounds], Jake.It could be what Kevin indicated, is we might get there tonight,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

“I really think it’s possible we getthere tonight, I would sayeven likely, but I don’t think it’sthe end of the world if wedon’t.It may be we have to have onemore round tomorrow,” he said.

McCarthy earlier said that when the House reconvenes at 10 p.m. ET, “I believe we’llhave the votes to finish thisonce and for all.”

Some of those who did not vote for McCarthy “were advocating forrules changes and some otherstructural changes that almostall of us agreed with, and wewere glad to have thatconversation,” Stewart said. “But I think we’re talking tothem now about something that’smore than that.I think there’s honestlyprobably an element of pride inthis, in the sense you’ve togive people an off ramp, you’ve got to givethem a way to save face and nothumiliate them.I think a couple of them, maybeeven more, are actually at thepoint where they’ll say yes.”

When asked about what this lengthy voting process bodes for McCarthy’s possible tenure as speaker, Stewart said, “I don’t think I’mworried.I just think I accept that it’s goingto be difficult to be thespeaker of the House with thefour-seat majority.”

Stewart even pointed to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying, “You have to give Nancy Pelosicredit — one way or another, shekept her caucus in line.And I don’t know how she did it.I mean, I genuinely have satdown with some of my Democraticcolleagues the last few days and asked ‘How did shedo it?’”

“But for whatever reason, Republicansare … more willing to take a standagainst their own party, againsttheir own leadership, and Ithink we all recognize that.We saw that under John Boehner, we saw that under Paul Ryan, and it’scertainly going to be true under KevinMcCarthy.The question you have though,Jake, is have we weakened thespeakership to the point wherewhat is an already difficult jobis impossible? And that’ssomething many of us areworried about.I got to tell you, I don’t think that we have,” he said to Tapper.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy succeeded in winning over some opponents in the 12th and 13th ballotsFriday as he continued his work to secure the House speakership.

The process has now lasted four days — the longest speaker contest in more than 160 years. Democrats, meanwhile, have remained unified around their leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.

The House has voted to adjourn until 10 p.m. ET, when McCarthy is confident he will finally have enough votes to win the job. McCarthy said that when the House reconvenes, “I believe we’llhave the votes to finish thisonce and for all.”

Here’s how the latest votes played out:

12th ballot:

13th ballot:

Here’s what else you need to know to get you up to speed:

Surge of support: McCarthy started Friday saying he thought some of his fellow Republicans who have blocked his bid for speaker would vote for him. That is what happened —14 GOP lawmakers who were holding out, did vote for McCarthy during the 12th vote. An additional Republican, Rep. Andy Harris, flipped his vote in the 13th ballot. McCarthy said he thinks some minds were changed after negotiations over the last few days.No other Republican was nominated to oppose McCarthy in the 13th vote, though the six remaining hardliners voted in the “others” category for Jordan.

These lawmakers flipped, across both votes:

Moving forward: McCarthy’s team sees Rep. Matt Gaetz as their biggest obstacle now, multiple sources said. They see him as trying to gin up opposition. McCarthy’s allies are seeing whether any absent members can return and whether they can flip two holdouts: Rep. Matt Rosendale and Rep.-elect Eli Crane, or convince them to vote “present,” according to sources familiar.

Remember: McCarthy does not technically need 218 votes to become speaker. A majority of those present and voting is required to get thespeakership, which is usually 218 lawmakers. But if enough people skip the vote or vote “present,” the number of votes required for a majority can drop. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was electedwith 216 votes in 2021.

Role of the House clerk: In his nomination of Jeffries during the 12th round of voting, South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn started off by thanking Cheryl Johnson, the House clerk who has presided over voting for four days this week. Johnson is no stranger to turbulent times in the House. She has been present for two impeachment hearings as well as the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Read more about the clerk here.

Walking off the House floor, Rep. Matt Gaetz acknowledged that Rep. Kevin McCarthy will likely become the next speaker. Gaetz is one of McCarthy’s leading opponents, and had predicted that McCarthy would never become speaker.

“We had a lot of folks gain a lot of confidence in some of the negotiations. As you saw on that vote, it looked like a critical mass,” Gaetz said.

However, he noted that McCarthy will be governing in a “straitjacket” due to the tough concessions he had to make to get to this point.

“I think that the rules and personnel changes to the House that we’ve been talking about will do a lot to democratize power to the membership and will allow us a far stronger position as a House,” Gaetz said.

Fifteen Republicans switched their votes to Kevin McCarthy in his speakership bid on Friday across the 12th and 13th rounds of voting.

The 14 votes who flipped in favor of McCarthy on the 12th ballot are:

On the 13th ballot, McCarthy picked up one more supporter: Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy has so far managed to flip 15 votes on Friday in his bid to become the next House speaker, though the California Republican is still short of the support needed to win and it is unclear whether he will be able to get there.

The House has voted to adjourn until 10 p.m. ET.

McCarthy is locked in a fight for his political future as the California Republicanattempts to win the votes he needsto become speaker of the US House of Representatives in what has now become the longest contest in 164 years. Efforts to secure a deal with conservatives who oppose McCarthy have gained momentum, but it is unclear if it will be enough to save his imperiled speaker’s bid.

There are still six Republicans voting against McCarthy:

Two members who have been absent for votes on Friday – Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado and incoming freshman Wesley Hunt of Texas – are expected to return tonight. Both lawmakers are McCarthy supporters.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy expressed confidence that he will have the votes to clinch his speakership bid tonight.

“I’ll have the votes,” McCarthy said to CNN’s Manu Raju when asked if he will be able to flip two GOP congressmen, Rep. Matt Rosendale and Rep.-elect Eli Crane.

McCarthy later told journalists that once the House is back at 10 p.m. ET, “I believe we’llhave the votes to finish thisonce and for all.”

“Because it took this long, nowwe learned how to govern.So now we’ll be able to get thejob done,” McCarthy added.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy picked up an additional vote but still failed to clinch the votes for speaker on the 13th ballot, with one additional member flipping their vote to support McCarthy after the last round. Six GOP lawmakers voted against him.

GOP Rep. Andy Harris flipped his vote this round to support McCarthy.

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries had the unanimous support of his caucus.

The final tally was 214 for McCarthy, 212 for Jeffries and 6 for Rep. Jim Jordan.

Since Ken Buck is flying back and arrives at 9 p.m. ET, Republicans are trying to see if they can adjourn and come back at 10 p.m. ET, according to a source familiar.

Tom Cole confirmed to CNN that they are trying to see if they have the votes to adjourn.

A Democratic staffer tells CNN’s Jake Tapper that the GOP has the votes to adjourn to 10 p.m. ET to allow members to return for vote

Reps. Matt Rosendale and incoming freshman Eli Crane are both the top targets for the furious lobbying campaign to get Kevin McCarthy elected speaker tonight.

A source familiar with the matter said that Crane is concerned about the politics of supporting McCarthy in his red district. Rosendale has positioned himself to the right of any potential primary foe if he decides to run in the2024 Senate primary. Fellow Montanan Ryan Zinke has backed McCarthy.

Both backed Jim Jordan on the 13th ballot.

McCarthy allies are trying to convince the two that is not the case – and this is where former President Donald Trump’s support could come in handy.

The source expects a late night tonight. Rep. Ken Buck is expected to return at 9 p.m. ET tonight. The other absent incoming freshman, Wesley Hunt, also is expected to return.

President Joe Biden is commemorating two years since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrectionat the US Capitol – the dayhe’s called “one of the darkest periods of our nation’s history”– as he seeks to elevate the law enforcement and election officials that held firm against the most serious effort to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in American history.

In a week defined by dramatic contrasts between a White House at work and a House Republican majority in chaos, Friday’s event served as an almost visceral coda. It gave Biden the opportunity to highlightthe extremist risk to the nationand its politics that he sees as still very real – even as signs that the fever driven by his predecessor has started to break in concrete ways.

That risk, in the view of some White House officials, will serve as a literal, if unintentional, split screen to Biden’s remarks.

Biden is spending the solemn anniversary awarding thePresidential Citizens Metalto more than a dozen individuals – including law enforcement officers who were injured defending the Capitol, a Capitol Police officer who died the day after rioters stormed the building, officers who died by suicide after defending the Capitol, and election workers who rejected efforts by former President Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

At the White House event, Biden said that two years ago, “our democracy was attacked” and “all of it was fueled by lies about the 2020 election.”

Those in the room being honored, Biden said, “embody the best before, during and after January the 6, 2021.”

“History will remember your names. They’ll remember your courage. They’ll remember your bravery. They’ll remember your extraordinary commitment to your fellow Americans,” the president added.

Democratic Rep. David Trone, who missed a vote Thursday afternoon to get a scheduled surgery, came back to the Capitol and voted for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.

He received a standing ovation from his Democratic colleagues.

“The surgery is not related to his previous battle with cancer. Naturally, we assumed we were in the clear months ago when we scheduled this surgery for today, which the Majority Leader had previously designated a non-voting day,” Sasha Galbreath, Trone’s communications director, said in a statement earlier Thursday.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy appears to have suffered defeat on a 13th ballot for House speaker despite gaining momentum and some holdout votes.

To clinch the speakership, McCarthy either needs more GOP hardliners to flip their votes or to vote “present,” to lower the threshold

Only McCarthy and Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries were nominated for this round of voting — unlike previous rounds when hardline Republicans put up someone in opposition to McCarthy.

Why CNN says “appears to” suffer a defeat before the gavel goes down: Members-elect have the ability to change their votes before the vote is gaveled over. CNN is following along and tallying the voice votes as they happen, but it’s important to be clear that anything could technically change before the vote ends.

The House is now voting for a 13th time to elect a new House speaker.

After losing 12 rounds of votes but flipping some GOP holdouts, McCarthy is now searching for the final few votes he needs to get to the majority. Republican lawmakers say negotiations are still ongoing in between and during vote.

It comes after days of deadlock and a dozen failed votes for McCarthy so far.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s team expects more votes and is trying to clinch the speakership today.

They are seeing whether any of the absent members can return — and whether they can flip three holdouts: Reps. Matt Rosendale, Andy Harris and freshman Eli Crane, or convince them to vote “present,” according to sources familiar.

More votes are expected after this one, since they don’t have votes to adjourn.

McCarthy’s allies plan to turn up the heat on the remaining holdouts and pick them off one-by-one to get the speaker votes — but it won’t involve horse trading or more negotiations.

The emerging strategy, according to sources involved, includes leaning on former President Donald Trump to help squeeze the holdouts. Their camps have been in touch and believe Trump is willing to make some more calls.

Another source says Trump is making calls for McCarthy.

So far, however, Trump’s entreaties have not moved the needle. But he also has not put much capital into it.

But now, for Trump, he has an opportunity to claim victory with a McCarthy speakership actually in reach.

However, Trump’s team sees a handful of the critics as un-winnable, including Reps. Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, and won’t waste time on them.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy has been nominated for a 13th ballot by Rep. James Comer in his quest to become House speaker.

“In a Republican majority, underSpeaker Kevin McCarthy, theforgotten men and women’s voices will finally beheard and represented, and in aRepublican majority underSpeaker Kevin McCarthy thisbroken Congress will finally befixed and we will return toregular order,” Comer said.
“This is the people’s house, let’s get to work,” he added.

Efforts to secure a deal with conservatives who oppose McCarthy have gained momentum — he gained some support in the last vote after failing to reach the majority across 12 votes, stretching into the fourth day.

Negotiations to secure those last few votes McCarthy needs are ongoing, with some GOP lawmakers say they are still looking through the details.

Also on the ballot is Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who was nominated Rep. Veronica Escobar.

In her address, Escobar talked about the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol — which happened two years ago today. She touted Jeffries’ efforts to “defend democracy” after the riot.

“On this painful anniversary, thankfully, the honorable HakeemJeffries made sure that we cametogether to mark the moment,” she said. “That is the kind of speaker thatour nation needs,” Escobar added.

Kevin McCarthy lost his 12th ballot for House speaker, but he has been able to flip some GOP hardliners who were holding out before today.

The flips were met with applause from many in the House chamber, including McCarthy.

See some photos from inside the chamber:

More than a dozen Republican House members flipped their votes to Kevin McCarthy for speaker in the 12th round.

Here’s why they switched:

Asked by CNN why he changed his vote, Rep.-elect Josh Brecheen said that it was due to “a potential transformative deal that can outlive any speaker up here on rules.”

Rep. Scott Perry told CNN that there was agreement on including language dealing with a debt ceiling increase in the final deal — a major issue in the new Congress, which will face a decision on raising the borrowing limit later this year to avoid aUS debt default.

“We don’t want clean debt ceilings to just go through and just keep paying the bill without some counteractive effort to control spending.”

The deal also includes language to curb domestic spending at fiscal 2022 levels — prompting major concern from defense hawks. Perry also said he signed off on the deal after seeing it on paper, and he said he would help lobby the holdouts now.

“It is a framework of an agreement in good faith that allows us to keep moving forward,” Perry later told reporters.

He also tweeted about his decision:

Rep. Byron Donalds, as he exited McCarthy’s office to the House floor, refused to explain why he swapped his vote for McCarthy.But he later said he is confident McCarthy will become speaker.

Donalds said every member of the Republican conference has seen elements of the framework but declined to divulge specifics to reporters. He said he is “very, very confident” that the members who voted against the California representative won’t be retaliated against if he does become speaker.

“We’ve had that discussion with the leadership here,” about potential retaliation, Donalds said.

Rep. Victoria Spartz, who had voted “present” on previous speaker ballots, explained her change on Fox News by saying, “I’m happy to see a positive change of tone and having the conversations.

“They’re not there yet but it was a very good chance of tone and that will make our conference much stronger and it will make us as Republicans much stronger, to be able to reconcile differences now so we can govern as a unit,” she added.

Spartz said negotiations such as happened this week will be necessary in a “tight majority” and that “there were some legitimate concerns that needed to be addressed” that were raised by the dissident House Republicans.

Rep. Chip Roy cautioned the talks are ongoing and there is more work to be done.

“We’re not done yet, right. We don’t have 218 on the floor yet and we’re going to keep having conversations,” Roy said.

Rep. Dan Bishop said the central details of a framework agreement are known and it “We’ve worked very hard to make sure it is achievable, that it has teeth and it is understood well.”

Rep. Kevin McCarthy was defeated again in the 12th round of voting for House speaker, but gained new support, flipping 14 GOP holdouts after days of negotiations. Seven GOP lawmakers voted against him.

Republicans also nominated Reps. Jim Jordan and Kevin Hern in this round.

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries had the unanimous support of his caucus.

The final tally was:

Ohio Rep.-elect Warren Davidson, a Freedom Caucus member who nominated Kevin McCarthy on a previous ballot, says he believes McCarthy has flipped the “maximum reachable number” of recalcitrant Republicans.

Davidson proposed, “is there a deal to be struck by someone who did not vote for McCarthy who does not cast a vote?”

He said, “that’s really the only play left I think at this point.”

“How do we work together after this?” Davidson said, noting that “emotions have run high” and the intra-party feud has turned “personal.”

The White House says there is “no particular worry or concern” at a risk to US national security arising from Republicans’ inability to elect a new House speaker.

“We have vehicles to continue to communicate with both chambers of Congress, and that communication will continue throughout the foreseeable future,” said John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator at the National Security Council.

“There’s no particular worry or concern that national security will be put it at significant risk here because we do have ability to continue some some level of communication,” he said.

Some lawmakers have said they were denied briefings this week because they lacked proper security clearances before being sworn in.

“I’m a member of the House (Intelligence) Committee. I’m on the Armed Services Committee, and I can’t meet in the (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility) to conduct essential business,” Wisconsin Rep. MikeGallagher, a Republican, said in a news conference Wednesday.

Kirby said there was “obviously going to be some impact here as new members are waiting to get cleared and get committee assignments.”

“I don’t want to suggest that there’s not going to be any national security impacts,” he said, “but in terms of the American people worrying about whether the federal government, and this administration, can continue to look after our national security interests, that should not be an overriding concern.”

He said that included congressional notification of the most recent military assistance package for Ukraine, which was formally unveiled Friday.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy appears to have suffered defeat in the 12th ballot for House speaker, despite gaining more than a dozen votes from GOP hardliners.

The current bid for House leadership is now the longest speaker contest in 164 years as the process has now stretched into its fourth day.

A group of hardline Republicanshave so far derailed McCarthy’s bid to become House speaker —even afternegotiations have made progress Thursday night. Some did change their vote for McCarthy on Friday.

No member of Congress can be sworn in until a House speaker is elected.

Why CNN says “appears to” suffer a defeat before the gavel goes down: Members-elect have the ability to change their votes before the vote is gaveled over. CNN is following along and tallying the voice votes as they happen, but it’s important to be clear that anything could technically change before the vote ends.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, a key McCarthy ally, told CNN they have “momentum” now and expects more votes today.

He said that they are now working on final holdouts to lock down 218.

Walking into the House chamber, a grinning Kevin McCarthy said he’s feeling “very good” about the votes that flipped to him in his speakership bid.

McCarthy didn’t speculate how many more flipped votes he would get, acknowledging, “We’ve got a couple people out.”

Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s team sees Rep. Matt Gaetz as their biggest obstacle now, according to multiple sources. They see him as trying to gin up opposition.

Gaetz has believed he can hold back 10 votes against McCarthy, but McCarthy’s team believes he will begin to lose his sway over them as more members back McCarthy.

McCarthy’s team is trying to isolate Gaetz, instructing members to walk off the floor when he nominated Jim Jordan.

Gaetz wasn’t invited by McCarthy to the negotiations on Wednesday, but he showed up anyway.

Just before key holdout Rep.Byron Donaldsswitched his vote for Rep. Kevin McCarthy, he was in McCarthy’sceremonial office along with the California Republican and group of his allies.

Reps. Jim Jordan andPatrick McHenry were also spotted entering the room.

Big shouts of relief and applause were heard coming from the office with the new votes that have switched for McCarthy.

One person was heard yelling, “Yeah, baby!”

Donalds, as he exited Kevin McCarthy’s office to the House floor, refused to explain why he swapped his vote for McCarthy.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy is succeeding in winning over some opponents in the 12th ballotfor House speaker, flipping at least seven votes so far. It is still unclear if he will win enough votes for a majority.

Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Kevin Hern have also been nominated by Republicans this round.

McCarthy has failed to get the majority needed to win the speakership 11 times — with many of his opponents not budging yet.

Rep. Ralph Norman, a key McCarthy detractor, told CNN he is still, going through the outline they got last night. He said that they “still got to fill in the details.”

Norman added, “We got to see — put meat on the bones, as an analogy, of what’s been proposed.”

“It’s like me telling you I’m gonna buy you a car. Well, do you have the right to ask what kind of car, what year car, what size car? Yes. So we’re vetting it as we would do anybody,” he said.

Norman again emphasized the importance of government spending in any agreement, though he wouldn’t be more specific about what kind of cuts. “What we’re looking at is making sure, front and center stage of the next speaker, that his core values aligned with cuts,” he said.

Asked if he trusts McCarthy, Norman repliedthat they “got all of these things to him months ago. Crickets.”

Rep. Kevin McCarthy is not giving up on his House speakership bid — he has been nominated for the 12th round of voting by Rep. Mike Garcia.

“This is actually not about Kevin McCarthy,” he said, instead pointing to a variety of other larger national issues lawmakers need to address.

“The matters before us are of stupendous magnitude,” he said, adding that the House needs someone who will serve the country with “pure and selfless intent, just as our founding fathers did.”

“Victory begins with allowing this body to get to work,” Garcia said, adding that the way the nation wins is by working together. “It begins today.”

Negotiators have been working to try to get a deal. They hope to get some of the 20 Republican lawmakers who oppose McCarthy to help get him elected.

Some McCarthy allies have expressed optimism about the talks, saying they are making “progress” and that McCarthy could pick up some votes today. His path to the speakership is still uncertain.

Rep. Matt Gaetz again nominated Rep. Jim Jordan for speakership.

“We donot trust Mr. McCarthy withpower.Because we know who he will useit for and we are concerned itwill not be for the Americanpeople.We trust Jim Jordan,” he said.

McCarthy staff advised members to walk out while Gaetz was speaking.

And Rep. Lauren Boebert nominated Rep. Kevin Hern. She said she believes Hern can unite the Republican coalition.

In his nomination of Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries for House speaker, South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn started off by thanking Cheryl Johnson, the House clerk who has presided over voting for four days this week.

“I want to beginby thanking you for yourcontribution to maintaining thedignity and honor of this august body,” he said, to which she received a standing ovation.

“The eyes of the country are onus today.Let us consider what they willremember.I often refer to this hall asAmerica’s classroom, theproceedings that we undertake inthis body and our actions shouldserve as lessons for those whomay be watching and/orlistening.Hopefully, that which they seeand hear will help them gainunderstanding and appreciationfor the greatness of America andthe goodness of the Americanpeople,” he continued.

Read more about Johnson below:

Rep. Kevin McCarthy said Thursday he thinks some of his fellow Republicans who have blocked his bid for speaker will vote for him.

“We have a couple members who are out but I think watch here you’ll see some people who have been voting against me voting for me,” McCarthy said as he walked to the floor and was swarmed by reporters.

He said he thinks some minds were changed after negotiations of the last few days.

“I think sitting and talking, just talking through it,” McCarthy said when asked what changed.

He said he doesn’t expect to get to the necessary 218 votes today to become speaker because some members are expected to be absent. He did not say when that vote might happen.

The House just gaveled as Kevin McCarthy continues to be locked in a fight for his political future. The California Republican hasattempted to win the votes he needsto become speaker of the US House of Representatives in what has now become the longest contest in 164 years.

Efforts to secure a deal with conservatives who oppose McCarthy have gained momentum over the past day, but it is still unclear if it will be enough to save his imperiled speaker’s bid.

McCarthysuffered a string of defeatson Thursday as the House took round after round of failed votes. The longer the fight drags on, the more dire it becomes for McCarthy as it risks further defections and a loss of confidence in the GOP leader.

GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz, who has been voting “present,” is still undecided on whether to vote for Rep. Kevin McCarthy. She told CNN she wants to see “movement” first.

Meanwhile, GOP Rep. Ralph Norman told CNN he’ll still be voting for Rep. Byron Donalds on the next ballot. He said he is still reviewing the emerging deal.

Incoming New York Rep. Mike Lawler said on CNN that he believes there has been progress on the speakership and that Kevin McCarthy will eventually nab the position.

“I do believe that people are going to be moving towards Kevin and ultimately that Kevin MCarthy will the speaker of the House, as I have said from the very beginning,” Lawler said.

Lawler said that some 200 House Republicans support McCarthy’s speakership bid and “that is not changing.”

“We are going to continue to stand strong in support of Kevin until he ultimately is elected as the speaker of the House,” he said.

Lawler also argued that “many of these changes that have been requested by members of the Freedom Caucus are changes embraced by the conference so this is not a question of weakening Kevin McCarthy as speaker.”

“I don’t think we’re looking at weeks,” Lawler replied when asked if this standoff could continue indefinitely.

“I am fine with the concessions that have been made,” Lawler said when asked if he has any redlines for concessions to the Republicans opposing McCarthy. “The bottom line here is that we need a speaker and, if it brings the conference together so that we can get about the business of the American people, that is most important to me.”

“I didn’t run for office to fight about rules,” Lawler said.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick told reporters that although Rep. Kevin McCarthy will pick up some holdouts today, but it is unclear if he will have enough votes as he believe at least three members will not be present at the Capitol for the vote.

About the holdouts for McCarthy, Fitzpatrick described them as individuals with their own desires, “it’snot a monotheistic group each one of them has specific concerns.”

He added, “when people say the question is how many we pick up today, I don’t know the number or the names.”

The Pennsylvania Republican said that McCarthy could not go too far in concessions to hardliners to lose his vote.

Fitzpatrick said the vote will likely last into the weekend.He was on his way to the GOP conference call.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy kicked off the GOP conference saying a deal has still not been reached as he enters day four of still not having the votes to be speaker, sources tell CNN.

He tried to strike a more positive, gracious tone and laid out some of the details that have emerged in the negotiations, the sources added.

McCarthy said committees need to be a microcosm of the conference, with more far-right Freedom Caucus members on all committees, a signal that promising committee posts have been a key part of the negotiations. Sources said McCarthy is describing this as equal representation.

GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry, a McCarthy ally and negotiator in this process, said on the call that no committee gavels have been promised and that talk of that is all rumors, sources told CNN.

He specifically thanked Rep. Chip Roy for his role in the negotiations, a key holdout, and said he can tell that members are working hard and trying to work through their disagreements in good faith. McCarthy said he has not been part of the negotiations, specifically, sources added.

He said the rules package presented on Sunday is staying the same and that the only change is the threshold to allow one member to call for the motion to vacate, which he claims not to be worried about.

GOP Rep. Garret Graves told the conference that President Joe Biden’s approval rating is up, implying the internal dissension among GOP is hurting them, a source added.

The call is ongoing and they just began the open mic part, according to a source.

More on the call: The speakers on the call so far have all been McCarthy allies, according to GOP Reps. Andy Barr, Gary Palmer and Dusty Johnson.

This is likely by design, sources say, as this call is being run by McCarthy’s team not the GOP Conference Chair, Elise Stefanik. The release that went out to members was from the courtesy of the speaker designate, not from the conference, sources added.

Members of the House gathered on the steps of the Capitol Friday to mark the second anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.

Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries praised the officers “who defended us at the citadel of democracy that fateful day.”

Fallen officers’ names were read aloud as their family members joined the lawmakers.

No members of the incoming House Republican leadership attended, and the only GOP member in attendance was Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick.

Meanwhile at the White House, President Joe Biden plans to mark the two-year anniversary of the insurrection by awarding for the first time in his presidency the Presidential Citizens Medal to 12 people.

The individuals include law enforcement officers who were injured defending the Capitol, a Capitol Police officer who died the day after rioters stormed the building and election workers who rejected efforts by former President Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Biden is set to deliver remarks and host a ceremony at 2 p.m. ET at the White House honoring the dozen individuals chosen for having made “exemplary contributions to our democracy” and shown “courage and selflessness” around the events of Jan. 6, a White House official familiar with the details told CNN.

About the medal: The Presidential Citizens Medal is one of the country’s highest civilian honors, given to American citizens deemed to have “performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens.” Biden’s decision to distinguish Americans he sees as having protected the nation’s Capitol, its democratic institutions and elections system, is one of the major ways in which the president has sought to draw a stark contrast from his predecessor.

Biden told CNN’s Phil Mattingly on Thursday that he prays that another insurrection “never happens again.” Asked by Mattingly at a Cabinet meeting what the significance is of the group Biden invited to the White House ceremony, the president said a “lot of thinking” went into it.

This week, as the political drama and infighting engulfed House Republicans who’ve failed to elect a House speaker over multiple rounds of voting, the president called the debacle an “embarrassing” episode for the country – and made clear that Jan. 6, 2021, was on his mind.

“How do you think it looks to the rest of the world?” Biden told reporters on Wednesday. “We’re really getting through the whole issue relating to Jan. 6. Things are settling out. And now, for the first time in 100 years, we can’t move?”

CNN has reported that the House’sinability to select a speakeris impacting US national security, Republican and Democratic lawmakers and staffers say, as members who can’t yet be sworn in are being locked out of classified briefings.

Indiana Rep.-elect Jim Banks, the head of the influential Republican Study Committee, said he feels positive about some concessions that have been made in the days-long speakership standoff.

Banks told Fox News, “I don’t know if I see light at the end of the tunnel yet, but I’m hearing about it.”

Banks said “really healthy concessions have been made,” such as a commitment to bring a term limits bill to the floor, adding “I’ve always said I want a House of Representatives where the speaker matters a lot less and the rank-and-file members like myself matter a lot more.”

“I hope that we can resolve this before the weekend,” Banks said.

“If we keep our commitments over these next couple years, we’re going to grow the majority and win back the White House, too, in 2024, and I believe this week could help contribute to making that happen,” Banks added.

The House’sinability to select a speakeris impacting US national security, Republican and Democratic lawmakers and staffers say, as members who can’t yet be sworn in are being locked out of classified briefings and the Biden administration is effectively operating without House oversight.

At a minimum, House members are not staying informed of day-to-day national security developments because they cannot receive a security clearance until they are sworn in. But at its most extreme, the impasse also means that the current Congress is not in a position to either authorize or stop a war, staffers and experts told CNN.

“I’m a member of the House (Intelligence) Committee. I’m on the Armed Services Committee, and I can’t meet in the (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility) to conduct essential business” Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Republican, said in a press conference on Wednesday, referring to the place that is used by military and national security officials to process sensitive and classified information. He added that he was denied entry to a meeting with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley because he does not yet have a security clearance.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican who is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, also said he is concerned about the national security implications of the impasse on Thursday afternoon, as McCarthy failed in a seventh vote.

“It’s bad. It’s really bad,” Fitzpatrick said. “I don’t have access to the SCIF right now, because I’m not sworn in. I can’t get my China briefing, my Ukraine briefing, my Iran briefing.”

Fitzpatrick added, “A third of our government’s offline right now. It’s very dangerous.”

Not only are those members barred from briefings, the key national security committees they would normally sit on cannot even be formed yet – including the House Intelligence and Armed Services committees, which oversee the intelligence community and the Pentagon, respectively.

In a small but revealing detail, the House Armed Services and GOP Foreign Affairs Committee websites were still offline as of Thursday.

“The committees don’t technically exist in this Congress until they convene, vote on the rules of the committee and basically vote themselves into existence,” said former House Armed Services Committee staffer Jonathan Lord, who now serves as director of the Middle East Security program at the Center for a New American Security. “So all of the oversight work that those committees do on a day-to-day basis can’t officially go on.”

Rep. Kevin McCarthy arrived on Capitol Hill on Friday and told reporters he’s confident in the state of Republican negotiations as the House speaker fight drags into a fourth day.

“We’ll have to see you know we have a couple members who have some family issues,” McCarthy said when asked about the current framework for a deal.

As he entered the speaker’s office, he said, “we’re going to get it done.”

On Thursday night after the House adjourned, McCarthy said that while there had been progress in negotiations, there was no timeline on when he could get to 218 votes. “If this takes a little longer, that’s OK,” he said.

A relic of premodern times, before the internet or even telephones, these votes for speaker of the House can be confusing through 21st century eyes. Here are some answers to questions we’ve been getting about why things look the way they do:

Why does CNN say “appears to” suffer a defeat before the gavel goes down?

Members-elect have the ability to change their votes before the vote is gaveled over. CNN is following along and tallying the voice votes as they happen, but it’s important to be clear that anything could technically change before the vote ends.

Why can members-elect vote for a speaker?

By law, the 117th US Congress ended on Jan. 3 and the 118th Congress began. However, the rules do not allow the new House to convene until a speaker is chosen.

The speaker is chosen by members-elect before they are sworn in. Then the speaker swears in the members-elect.

Why we could see more “present” votes today?

This is something to watch. The speaker is elected by a majority of the 435-member House, which is normally 218. But “present” votes or absences lower the threshold to reach a majority.

There is already one open seat caused by the death of Virginia Democrat Rep.Donald McEachin. If enough of the20 hardline Republicansvoted “present,” it could enable Rep. Kevin McCarthy to win with fewer than 218 votes. Two “present” votes lower the threshold for a majority by one vote.

However, the trick only works up to this point since the Democratic nominee,Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, has had 212 votes. If 11 Republicans voted “present,” Jeffries would become House speaker.

That means McCarthy still needs to flip at least 11 Republicans who have voted against him even if the other nine voted “present.”

There are also other reasons a member-elect could vote “present.” Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana did it already as a sort of protest of McCarthy. She didn’t want to support the hardliners who are trying to block his speakership, but she did want to signal to McCarthy that he needs to wrap this up or move aside.

Read more about the speaker elections here.

House Republicans have been informed there will be a 10:15 a.m. ET conference call, according to three sources.

The notice just went out after questions about whether it would actually happen.

Where things stand in negotiations: Talks are continuing among Republicans after negotiations aimed at winning over Kevin McCarthy opponents picked up steam on Thursday. Key House GOP negotiators said they were moving closer to an agreement that would bring McCarthy closer to 218.

Several members said they were very close to a deal that in many ways is an attempt to rebuild frayed alliances and trust hampered by a harsh Tuesday morning conference meeting.

CNN’s Clare Foran and Annie Grayer contributed reporting to this post.

It’s the easiest, most elegant and simple solution to Rep. Kevin McCarthy’sfailure to bring Republicans together.

Just find a few Democrats already. Form a freaking coalition. Edge out these hardline Republicans and get the House to work.

But ask just about anyone in Washington and they’ll chuckle at your naivete and shake their heads. McCarthy won’t ever ask Democrats for help. And Democrats wouldn’t give it to him. So silly.

Who can govern like this? Which leaves the vast majority of Americans to watch as McCarthy gives more and more to the intransigent fringe of his party, even as it becomes painfully clear that more than four of them have no intention of ever supporting him. He can only afford to lose four GOP votes.

By the way, this is now the most drawn-out speaker electionsince the outbreak of the Civil War.

Meanwhile, if McCarthy was to finally give up and step aside, whichever Republican tried to find GOP consensus would be stuck with theconcessions McCarthy has already agreed to.

Look to the states: While the idea of a bipartisan coalition feelsimpossible in today’s Washington, it’s not a crazy idea at all.

In fact, as CNN political analyst John Avlon pointed out on “CNN This Morning,” variations of power sharing or a moderate speaker upset could be seenin multiple states this year:

How would a coalition work? Those are all unique situations with their own local dynamics, but it’s worth wondering what a coalition government in Washington might look like. “A block of House Republicans should get together with Democrats to pick a speaker to run a coalition government, which will moderate the House and marginalize the extremists,” suggested John Kasichin a tweetthat was viewed more than 5 million times. He’s the former Ohio governor and representative who has turned into a cheerleader for moderation in recent years.

Democrats would have to buy in: Kasich has seen this process before. He was chairman of the House Budget Committee after the so-called “Republican Revolution” of 1994 and took part in thefamous budget balancingof the second Bill Clinton administration, when the Democratic president was forced to work with a Republican House majority.

“The Democrats at some point have got to stop laughing at the Republicans and say, ‘hey, we have a golden opportunity here to come up with something that is more moderate and more workable,’” Kasich later told CNN’s Michael Smerconish on his SiriusXM podcast.

It’s a very small minority of a slim majority that’s kept the House from moving forward and is on the cusp of derailing Rep. Kevin McCarthy’sbid to become speaker.

They don’t speak for the majority of Republicans.The20 anti-McCarthy Republicanswho so far derailed his bid to become House speaker represent less than 10% of the House GOP.

They aren’t the entirety of the Freedom Caucus.The hardliners are less than half the ultraconservative, ultra-MAGA wing of lawmakers.

They’re sort of gaining support.Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana became the 21st Republican member-elect to not support McCarthy starting on Wednesday, althoughshe voted “present”rather than voting for anyone.

The hardliners also don’t speak with one voice.

“I think you need to break the 20 down,” the conservative Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado said on CNN on Wednesday. Buck had been viewed as a possible defector before this week, and he made clear that patience with these votes is waning.

He suggested McCarthy’s deputy, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana,as a possible consensus speakerwho could speak to three varieties of the 20 anti-McCarthy Republicans.

For some, it’s personal.“There are a few of those 20 that just aren’t going to vote for Kevin McCarthy but would vote for somebody else,” Buck said. The key question is whether that block of “never-McCarthy” House Republicans is larger than the four votes McCarthy can afford to lose.

Others want specific changes.“There are some of the others … who want changes in the rules and there are some others who care about policy,” Buck said. “So I think if Steve (Scalise) meets those three needs, he will be able to move forward and take the speakership.”

Some want to shut things down.Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina has said a non-negotiable for him is if McCarthy is “willing to shut the government down rather than raising the debt ceiling.” That suggests the kind of precarious future funding fights will pose to the economy.

These lawmakers want painful cuts now to end deficit spending. If the US was to default on its debt, it could send the US economy into a tailspin, according to most economists. A government shutdown would be less severe, but they have been unpopular when lawmakers forced them in recent years.

Some just don’t like McCarthy. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida issued a personal screed against McCarthy on Tuesday. “Maybe the right person for the speaker of the House isn’t someone who has sold shares in himself for more than a decade to get it,” Gaetz said, standing just in front of his target.

Bishop was less aggressive on CNN when he expressed the problem with McCarthy’s specific leadership.

“The fact is that you never see a specific agenda that you know Kevin McCarthy’s going to go to the mat for, as opposed to sort of pablum or poll-tested language, indicates the problem,” Bishop said. “And it’s been that way for all 14 years he’s been in leadership, with all due respect to him.”

Things remain murkythis morning. It is unclear what happensat noonET in the House, including whether the chamber will adjourn or vote on the 12th ballot.

It is also unclear if McCarthy will be able to pick up any new support, something viewed internally as essential.

The timing of the House GOP conference call on this emerging deal has also not been set yet, according to two sources.

Kevin McCarthy is locked in a fight for his political future as the California Republican attempts to win the votes he needs to become speaker of the US House of Representatives in what has now become the longest contest in 164 years.

If you’re just reading in, here’s what you need to know about the speaker stalemate:

Keep reading here.

Kevin McCarthyis the latest Republican leader to find out that it’s impossible to get ahead of his party’s inexorable march to its far-right extremes.

The Californian, who has lost a stunning11 consecutive House roll call votesin his bid to become speaker, was the first major GOP leader to embraceex-President Donald Trumpafter the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

But on Friday’stwo-year anniversaryof the worst attack on American democracy in the modern era, he’s finding out that even thatsupposedly career-enhancing betis insufficient to unlock the votes of Trump’s heirs in the chaos wing of the GOP.

McCarthy is becoming the latest example of a political leader consumed by a revolution the “Make America Great Again” radicals helped to stage. For the radical lawmakers now blocking his ascent to his dream job, he’s become the political establishment he once condemned.

Republicans won control of the House through democratic means in a free and fair election. But their far smaller-than-expected majority is offering extra leverage to the kind of pro-Trump extremists many voters appeared to reject in last year’s midterms.

But not even Trump himself – the author of the election-denying scam that led to the insurrection and who once could move the GOP in the House with a single phone call – could rally MAGA fundamentalists in the House for McCarthy. His failure to do so hints at diminished influence for the ex-president after his limp launch of a 2024 White House bid and a disastrous midterm election campaign for his chosen candidates. It might show that the wildest manifestations of Trumpism no longer need Trump himself.

Two years ago, scores of House Republicans refused to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory and many spent years appeasing Trump’s lawless behavior. Yet after driving democracy to the brink, the GOP controls one half of Capitol Hill – or will if it eventually gets its act together and picks a speaker.

In another surreal scene on the Hill this week, one of those Republicans, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene – who has downplayed the insurrection and said rioters would have “won” if she was in charge – is complaining about the extremism of some of her colleagues who oppose McCarthy.

“That’s not serious. I don’t think that’s leadership, and I really see it as more obstruction than progress,” she told CNN’s Manu Raju on Thursday.

Read the full analysis here.

After the House voted to adjourn for the night Thursday, Rep. Kevin McCarthy told reporters that while there has been progress in negotiations, there was no timeline on when he could get to 218 votes.

McCarthy’s bid for speaker — he lost 11 votes in the House this week — has been stymied by about 20 fellow Republicans.

“I have the longest speech on the floor so apparently I like to make history,” McCarthy said, referring to an address of eight hours and 32 minutes he made in November 2021 aimed at stalling President Biden’s plan to expand the social safety net. “If this takes a little longer, that’s OK,” he added.

McCarthy also addressed why differences weren’t resolved before Tuesday, saying “we tried to sort it out before Jan. 3.”

On the concessions he’s made so far, McCarthy said he’s not concerned about giving just one member the power to call for a vote to oust the speaker. “I’m very fine with that,” McCarthy said. “I’m not afraid. … I won’t be a weaker speaker.”

McCarthy also denied that any members would lose committee assignments and said there have been no negotiations that involved giving subcommittee chairmanships to dissidents.