House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy appears to lack support to become speaker hours ahead of key vote

WASHINGTON — As the House prepares to usher in the 118th Congress and new Republican majority on Tuesday, GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy is struggling to secure enough support for his bid to be House speaker to avoid a protracted and historic fight on the House floor.

The California congressman has lobbied his fellow Republicans for months and made several concessions to a small but outspoken bloc of conservatives. But the efforts have not yet produced the breakthrough McCarthy needs to be elected House speaker in the first round of voice voting, which is expected to take place shortly after noon ET.

In order to be elected speaker, McCarthy needs support from a majority of the members who vote Tuesday, or 218 of the 434 House members expected to vote. But with only 222 Republicans total, and no Democrats expected to vote for him, McCarthy can afford to lose only four members of his caucus.

As of Tuesday morning, six current Republican members and three members-elect, all conservatives, still publicly opposed McCarthy. McCarthy also faced months of organized opposition from influential conservative outside groups, which have amplified his critics on social media.

McCarthy’s failure to win public support from his entire caucus has already cast a shadow over the new Republican majority, exposing divisions within the party that have existed for decades. The differences were deepened by former President Donald Trump, who emboldened a small band of ultra-conservatives.

Trump eventually backed McCarthy’s bid for speaker, as did other influential conservatives such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

House Republicans began Tuesday morning with a caucus meeting that was viewed as McCarthy’s final opportunity to make his pitch to members who might be on the fence.

After the meeting but before the vote, McCarthy told reporters that “we may have a battle on the floor, but the battle is for the conference and the country, and that’s fine with me.”

“Look, I have the record for the longest speech ever on the floor, I don’t have a problem getting a record for the most votes for Speaker too,” he added.

Judging from early statements by key Republican holdouts, the conservatives had a long list of demands they believed McCarthy has failed to meet.

House Democrats, meanwhile, openly relished the internal chaos roiling the opposing party.

“We certainly are seeing chaos today in Congress, and this is an extension of the extremism that we have seen from the GOP,” incoming House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

She accused McCarthy of having “thrown away his moral compass.”

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.