BREAKING: 15th Vote Finally Decides Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House

After a ton of drama on Friday night, almost coming to blows, it looks like the question of Speaker is finally settled, after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl) and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) came to some sort of understanding that finally got him the support he needed to become speaker.

Gaetz voted “present” on the 14th vote, which wasn’t enough to put McCarthy over and caused McCarthy to go across the room to confront Gaetz. Then Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) had to restrain Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) from going after Gaetz.

Rep. Hudson, R-N.C., left, pulls Rep. Rogers, R-Ala., as he confronts Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., during the 14th round of voting for speaker as the House meets for the fourth day to try and elect a speaker in Washington, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (@AP Photo/@andyharnik) pic.twitter.com/ok3K8ERtfU

— Andrew Harnik (@andyharnik) January 7, 2023

If it wasn’t for C-SPAN cameras, here’s what the McCarthy/Gaetz confrontation would have looked like via the government feed.#118thCongress pic.twitter.com/XwdEGIeSW4

— Jeremy Art (@cspanJeremy) January 7, 2023

Great coverage by C-Span, for sure.

But after all that went down, Gaetz and McCarthy seem to have come to some sort of agreement. Gaetz, who had voted to adjourn, pulled that back and voted “no,” so they could continue the vote. It was a sign McCarthy didn’t need more time to whip votes.

So then, in the 15th vote, all of the six holdouts then voted “present,” lowering the count needed to win, securing the vote for McCarthy. Those six were Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), and Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT)

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Dave Wasserman from Cook Political called it after it was clear what the result would be, like a regular election.

I’ve seen enough: GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy wins the speaker’s gavel on the 15th ballot.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) January 7, 2023

All of the six holdouts voted “present,” which was enough to lower the vote total and give McCarthy the gavel.

#BREAKING: Kevin McCarthy secures enough votes to be elected the next Speaker of the House with 216 votes. This was made possible as 5 GOP members voted “present”. #SpeakerVote @CBSDFW

— Nick Starling (@NickStarlingTV) January 7, 2023

So the final vote total was:

McCarthy 216
Jeffries 212
Present 6

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