WASHINGTON — Whether or not Kevin McCarthy becomes speaker under the incoming House Republican majority, the Jan. 3 floor election to determine who will take the gavel from Nancy Pelosi is poised to be the most dramatic in a century.
A small faction of “never Kevin” Republicans is threatening to ensure McCarthy is denied the 218 votes needed to win the speaker’s election. But a larger group of Republicans who have pledged to vote for “only Kevin” are making clear they won’t support any other returning members of Congress for the role.
The two positions are seemingly irreconcilable, and members on both sides of the intra-party standoff predict the speaker’s election will require multiple ballots for the first time since 1923.
