WASHINGTON — Republican Kevin McCarthy achieved his long-held ambition of becoming House speaker early Saturday after quelling a rebellion by GOP conservative hardliners, but at the cost of further weakening his precarious position within a sharply divided party.
After the longest series of speaker ballots since 1859, McCarthy had 216 votes in the final tally, enough to be elected to the post that is second in line for the presidency, with six voting “present.” Democrats unanimously cast votes for their leader, New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.
The protracted deadlock between establishment Republicans and hard-line conservatives took 15 votes over more than four days to resolve. And it previews more chaos ahead on the political challenges that will come up this year, including raising the U.S. debt ceiling and funding the government.
