McCarthy loses 12th Speaker vote despite gaining support from right-wing

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Republican Kevin McCarthy on Friday picked up support from right-wing hardliners in the U.S. House of Representatives who had blocked his speakership bid, but it was not enough to end the deepest congressional dysfunction in more than 150 years.

In a 12th round of voting in four days, 14 Republicans who previously opposed McCarthy voted for him in a sign that his prospects may be improving after he offered the holdouts a range of concessions that would limit his clout if he succeeds in becoming speaker of the House.

But seven fellow Republicans still voted against him, leaving him three votes short of the majority needed to win the speaker’s gavel and prompting his supporters to put his nomination forward for a 13th vote.

McCarthy earlier had predicted progress.

“Watch here and you’ll see some people who have been voting against me voting for me,” McCarthy, 57, said before Friday’s vote.

Republicans’ weaker-than-expected performance in November midterm elections left them with a narrow 222-212 majority and gives outsized power to the right-wing hardliners who oppose McCarthy’s leadership.

They have railed against McCarthy, accusing him of being soft and too open to compromise with President Joe Biden and his Democrats, who also control the U.S. Senate.

McCarthy already has agreed to limit his clout and make him vulnerable to new leadership challenges. Some of the hardliners say they want a leader who will be ready to force government shutdowns to cut spending.

That raises the possibility the two parties would fail to reach a deal when the federal government comes up against its $31.4 trillion debt limit this year. Lack of agreement or even a long standoff risks a default that would shake the global economy.

Some who changed their votes said they were persuaded to drop their opposition by McCarthy’s willingness to give their faction greater clout in the chamber.