Kevin McCarthy Officially Becomes House Speaker

After 15 contentious rounds of voting, Rep. Kevin McCarthy is House Speaker of the 118th Congress.

In a chaotic Friday evening, that included a squabble on the House floor, McCarthy secured enough votes to win speakership.

Kevin McCarthy elected Speaker of the House.

Awaiting House to officially announce result. #118thCongress pic.twitter.com/nMXB6tRhss

— CSPAN (@cspan) January 7, 2023

“I hope one thing is clear after this week: I will never give up. I will never give up for you, the American people. And I will never give up on keeping our Commitment to America,” McCarthy said.

“Our nation is worth fighting for,” he added.

“You know – my father always told me: It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. And now we need to finish strong for the American people,” he said, thanking colleagues for their support.

“As Speaker of the House, my ultimate responsibility is not to my party, my conference, or even our Congress. My responsibility – our responsibility – is to our country. Two months ago, you voted for a new direction for our country. You embraced our Commitment to America. And now, we are going to keep our commitment to you.”

While 20 Republican holdouts initially rebelled against McCarthy, it appears some sort of deal was made to secure enough votes for the California Republican.

BREAKING: Rep. Eli Crane just flipped from no on McCarthy to present.

That will do it.

Kevin McCarthy will be the 53rd Speaker of the House on the 15th ballot.

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 7, 2023

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

“He was with me from the beginning — somebody wrote the doubt of whether he was there — and he was all in. He would call me and he would call others. And he really was — I was just talking to him tonight — helping get those final votes.”

Kevin McCarthy after winning his speaker vote: "But I do want to especially thank President Trump. I don’t think anybody should doubt his influence. He was with me from the beginning." pic.twitter.com/OQZk3LvBkH

— Becker Clips (@NewsBecker) January 7, 2023

CNN noted:

McCarthy, who spoke with Rep. Matt Gaetz on the floor between the 14th and 15th ballot, 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.

Watch coverage of the chaotic evening below: