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Here are six things to watch as Speaker McCarthy takes his seat.

Twenty-one Republicans have come out against Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) bid to be Speaker, threatening to tank his campaign for the top spot in the chamber. GOP opposition to McCarthy has only grown since Tuesday. A group of 19 Republicans objected to McCarthy’s bid on the first and second ballot; 20 voted against him on […]

A defiant Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) vowed Tuesday to fight as long as it takes to win the Speaker’s gavel in the new Congress, challenging his Republican detractors with threats of a marathon process that would undermine Republicans politically just as they’re taking control of the lower chamber.  In a 90-minute closed-door meeting in the […]

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday said Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) will be seated on committees, after the embattled freshman lawmaker admitted to embellishing parts of his resume. “He’ll get seated on committees,” McCarthy said in the Capitol when asked if he would be assigned to any panels. The comments come after McCarthy last week […]

GOP Reps. Dan Bishop (N.C.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.) on Tuesday officially came out against Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s bid for Speaker, piling onto the California Republican’s increasingly complicated path to securing the gavel. Bishop and Boebert, who had both been withholding support from McCarthy in hopes of securing changes to House rules, had not previously […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was the extraordinary moment that brought House Republicans to the brink — and ultimately the moment they found their way back. Just one vote short of becoming speaker of the House, California Republican Kevin McCarthy stood from his chair and walked down the center aisle to the back of the chamber. […]

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called for the Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton to step down or be removed by President Biden, adding to bipartisan outrage over an inspector general report that found he misused a government vehicle and allegedly impersonated a law enforcement officer, among other ethics issues. “The Architect of the Capitol, […]

Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D) met with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) Wednesday to urge the House Republican leader to negotiate with President Biden on legislation to raise the debt limit, a sign the senior West Virginia senator could play a pivotal role in bipartisan talks. Manchin’s meeting with McCarthy comes at a time when other […]

Former Vice President Mike Pence is offering his support for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in his bid for Speaker, urging Republicans to rally around the former minority leader after the House on Tuesday failed to secure a Speaker on its first ballot for the first time in 100 years. Pence joins his former boss, ex-President […]

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is leading a congressional delegation to the southern border on Thursday, marking his first visit to the border since winning the gavel last month. Republican Reps. Juan Ciscomani (Ariz.), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (Ore.), Jen Kiggans (Va.) and Derrick Van Orden (Wis.) — all first-term lawmakers — will accompany McCarthy on the trip. The […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Kevin McCarthy is the new House speaker, but as bruising as it was for him to seize the gavel in a history-making election, it may be even more difficult for the embattled leader to do much with the powerful position — or to even keep it. Like the two most recent […]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) should visit Ukraine as the GOP is divided about how much the United States should be helping the Eastern European country defend itself against Russia.  Zelensky told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in an interview that McCarthy needs to observe what is happening in the country […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The promise of a red wave receding, Republicans on Wednesday faced the stark reality that any return to power would mean presiding over a narrowly split Congress, and the party’s dismal performance weakened House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy as he reaches for the speaker’s gavel. If Republicans pick up the remaining seats […]

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) broke with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Thursday when asked about the death of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by Capitol police during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, concluding she was not murdered, as Greene has said. “I think the police officer did his job,” McCarthy told […]

House GOP Speaker nominee Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) expressed optimism about winning the gavel Tuesday night as he emerged from meetings with allied members following three failed ballots, floating the possibility of winning the post with fewer than 218 votes.  “You’re sitting at 202 votes, so you need technically just 11 more votes to win,” McCarthy said. “Democrats have 212 […]

It’s crunch time for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).  Members of Congress departed Washington on Friday with the group of House Republicans voicing opposition to McCarthy for Speaker showing no signs of wavering, setting up a dramatic Jan. 3 Speaker’s vote — or series of votes — on the first day of the 118th Congress. McCarthy […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Six GOP members-elect remained opposed to Rep. Kevin McCarthy as he sought to secure enough support late Friday to become the next speaker of the House. Supporters were working to win a couple of them over, which would almost certainly give McCarthy the majority he needs to finally win the job after […]

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s political troubles don’t stop at the Washington Beltway. In his Central California hometown of Bakersfield — where oil derricks blanket hillsides and country music fans flock to Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace hall — some voters are asking if what has become an embarrassing bid to succeed […]

The working relationship between Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is notably different than the one the top House Republican had with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in the last Congress — most simply, that they have one at all.  Pelosi once called McCarthy a “moron” and McCarthy reportedly joked that it would be […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans flailed through a long second day of fruitless balloting Wednesday, unable to either elect their leader Kevin McCarthy as House speaker or come up with a new strategy to end the political chaos that has tarnished the start of their new majority. Yet McCarthy wasn’t giving up, even after the […]

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) praised former President Trump and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for pushing him over the finish line and helping him secure the gavel. He gave the two credit for convincing each of the six remaining Republican holdouts — of which Gaetz was one — to vote “present” on the 15th ballot, lowering the number […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said late Tuesday there’s no scenario in which he’ll drop his bid to become House speaker despite failing to win multiple rounds of voting, a historic defeat that brought the first day of the new Congress to an abrupt, messy end. McCarthy promised to fight to the finish […]

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was forced to give in to a series of demands from detractors to win the support necessary to win the Speaker’s gavel after a historic week of failed ballots.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is giving the Secretary of Homeland Security until Jan. 3 to resign or face a congressional investigation.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday said he would support legislation to repeal two Iraq war authorizations. “I’m into it,” McCarthy said of the Iraq war authorization repeals at a news conference for a GOP retreat in Orlando, Fla. “I don’t have a problem repealing that.” But McCarthy said the 2001 Authorization for the Use […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Sunday he is looking forward to discussing with President Joe Biden a “reasonable and responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling ” when the two meet Wednesday for their first sit-down at the White House since McCarthy was elected to the post. McCarthy, R-Calif., said […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is in the fight of his political life, grinding through the promises and proposals, cajoling and deal-making necessary to win over reluctant colleagues whose support he needs to become House speaker. Every new commitment from McCarthy can be seen as a potentially strategic move, intended to quell skeptics […]

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) took aim at Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, fueling an argument that could help lay the groundwork for a potential impeachment. “This has got to stop. And it starts with the Secretary of Homeland. Stop lying to the American public. Tell them […]

Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) move to give Fox News host Tucker Carlson access to tens of thousands of hours of Capitol security footage from the Jan. 6 attack has the potential to warm his relationship with cable television’s most powerful conservative commentator.  Over the last few years, Carlson has taken high-profile jabs at McCarthy, knocking […]

Two new members of Congress have fallen into the presidential line of succession following a tumultuous week in politics that saw the next House Speaker elected. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and President Pro Tempore Patty Murray (D-Wash.) are second and third in line to the presidency after the new Congress was sworn in earlier this […]

Republicans say they plan to deliver on their promise to block Democrats from committee assignments — saying Democrats have been involved in questionable conduct, while Democrats say it’s simply retaliation.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) late Monday announced a run for Speaker, challenging House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in the Republican conference’s nomination to the post. “We have a new paradigm here, and I think the country wants a different direction from the House of Representatives. And it’s a new world, and yes, I’m going […]

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Friday gave an approximately 25-minute floor speech opposing a $1.7 trillion omnibus government funding package, his final show of opposition to the funding bill before its expected passage later that day. “This is a monstrosity. That is one of the most shameful acts I’ve ever seen in his […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Joe Biden “looks forward” to sitting down with new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to discuss a range of topics, including perhaps the thorniest challenge confronting Washington this year: raising the nation’s debt limit. One hitch: That statement Friday came with no actual invitation to the White House, […]

Searches for a Speaker alternative to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) are slowly building momentum as he faces opposition that threatens to sink his bid. On one side, McCarthy’s fiercest detractors are teasing that there are people interested in being a viable GOP consensus substitute for the current minority leader. On the other, members […]

Controversial Republican Congressman George Santos of New York just finished his first official work week in Congress.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Tuesday night said former President Trump has reiterated support for his Speakership bid, hours after the California Republican failed to secure the gavel in three ballots amid GOP opposition to his candidacy. The comment came after Trump, in an interview with NBC News earlier on Tuesday, declined to say if he was still backing McCarthy […]

Speaking at a machine factory in Pennsylvania, the House minority leader took aim at Biden’s and Democrats’ legislative agenda.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are picking an early fight with the House Republican majority over committee seats, nominating two California lawmakers for the Intelligence Committee in open defiance of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s vow to block them. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in a letter sent to McCarthy over the weekend, asked that Reps. Adam Schiff […]

The final vote, on the 15th ballot, was 216 for McCarthy, 212 for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and six present votes. With the present votes, he needed 215 votes to win.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an almost forgotten slice of marbled real estate at the Capitol, the Kevin McCarthy era is taking shape in Congress. It was here that the new House speaker was chatting last week with Donald Trump Jr. on the former president’s son’s podcast, their laughter spilling into the halls from behind closed […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Tuesday he’s increasingly concerned about President Joe Biden’s unwillingness to negotiate on lifting the nation’s borrowing authority, saying in a letter to the president that the White House position could “hold dire ramifications for the entire nation.” Rather than open direct talks on the debt ceiling, […]

Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has finally won over enough support from his own party to become speaker of the House.

The House of Representatives adjourned Tuesday without a Speaker after three ballots for the gavel found no candidate with the majority. Speaker nominee Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) lost 19 GOP votes on the first two ballots and 20 on the third ballot, leaving the conference in a stalemate on how to proceed. All 434 members […]

A historic stalemate over choosing a new Speaker has left the House GOP divided and the chamber unorganized and in chaos. After three votes on Tuesday in which Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) failed to win a majority and those opposed to his Speakership showed no signs of standing down, the question of how the fight […]

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) failed to win the Speakership on a second ballot Tuesday afternoon, sending the race for the top spot to a third ballot. McCarthy received 203 votes, the same as on the first ballot and fewer than the 218 needed to secure the gavel in the chamber. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign over management of the U.S. southern border with Mexico, warning that the new House GOP majority will open investigations that could lead to impeachment proceedings. McCarthy, who is positioned to become the new House speaker when […]

Frustration and anxiety are bubbling up among House Republicans over opposition to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for Speaker from a small group of hard-line conservative GOP members that threatens to keep him from the gavel. McCarthy allies lined up at the mics to voice support for him at an internal House Republican Conference […]

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Sunday that he’ll spearhead a House select committee on China if he’s elected Speaker when the new Congress convenes next year.  “They never once in this majority had a hearing [on] where COVID originated from … They have never stood up to China,” McCarthy said of Democrats in […]

House Republicans nominated Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) to be Speaker in a closed-door conference meeting on Tuesday after he faced a last-minute protest challenge from Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), a former chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. McCarthy won easily, 188 to 31, in the internal conference meeting. But in the eyes of Biggs and […]