McCarthy’s appeal and beg for votes

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was the extraordinary moment that brought House Republicans to the brink — and ultimately the moment they found their way back.

California, just one vote shy of becoming Speaker of the House Republican Kevin McCarthy He stood up from his chair, and began walking down the aisle towards the back of the chamber. It was nearly midnight and he had already lost 13 votes to become the speaker in just four days. The room fell almost silent as it became apparent that the GOP leader was now asking — begging, really — the bombastic, blustering, defiant Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to change his vote from “present” to “McCarthy.”

Gaetz had earlier made personal insults to McCarthy only hours earlier, but he said no.

McCarthy slowly walked down the aisle by himself, his head tilted to one side. He turned around to hear a scuffle behind his back. Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers was a Republican ally to McCarthy and had angrily confronted Gaetz. He told him that he regretted his decision. Rogers was resisted by a colleague who yelled disbelief at the lawmakers.

McCarthy returned to the chair to ensure that the argument was resolved.

He lost the 14th election. Allies moved to adjourn abruptly the House, their hopedfor unity appearing to be dissolving.

The tempers began to cool. And within the hour, McCarthy and his allies had persuaded his other remaining opponents to vote “present” as well, lowering the vote total necessary for McCarthy to win and handing him the speakership by early Saturday morning — after a historic, remarkable and somewhat astonishing week of repeated votes.

“I hope one thing is clear,” McCarthy said when he finally took the gavel after 1 a.m. “I never give up.”

Two years ago, the Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, caused chaos on the House Floor. During a late-night session after that attack, McCarthy called it the “saddest day I’ve ever had” as a member of Congress. McCarthy blamed Donald Trump, then-President of the United States, for encouraging his supporters to attack the building. This also disrupted the certification process of President Joe Biden. McCarthy returned to Florida a few weeks later and made amends.

The scene Friday was a different kind of chaos — but it was a full-circle moment for Republicans, who had ceded both chambers of Congress and the presidency to Democrats after the violent insurrection. While many of them denounced Trump at the time, McCarthy’s Florida visit brought him back into the fold, and the former president was working the phones Friday evening, calling Gaetz and the other holdouts.

“He was with me from the beginning,” McCarthy said after the final vote, noting Trump’s phone calls as well.

While the U.S. House is often raucous, the week’s events were almost surreal: vote after vote, defeat after defeat, and eventual success after picking off seemingly intransigent opponents.

McCarthy needed two more votes going into the Friday evening tally, which didn’t start until 10 p.m., late enough to provide two of his supporters — one whose wife had given birth that week and another who was ill — time to return to Washington. McCarthy and his supporters seemed confident as they walked in. But, the votes started to tick down, it became obvious that he would fall one vote short.

Two of McCarthy’s closest lieutenants, North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry and Louisiana Rep. Garrett Graves, sat on either side of Gaetz during the vote, with Graves at one point on his knees. But Gaetz could only be partially swayed, and stood to say “present” when the roll call reached his name. It wasn’t enough, and McCarthy approached him just before the vote was called, C-SPAN cameras tracking his short journey.

During the conversation, Gaetz was angry at McCarthy. However, Colorado Rep. Ken Buck was nearby and said that the exchange between them was pleasant. McCarthy had only asked Buck to change his vote. Gaetz said his “present” vote was as far as he was going, Buck said.

McCarthy said afterward that Gaetz eventually “got everybody there to the point that nobody voted against me,” persuading some of his fellow colleagues to vote “present” as well. McCarthy was the only Republican to vote against.

They wanted to “make this conference united and work together,” McCarthy said.

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This report was contributed by Farnoush Amiri, Farke Freking, and Lisa Mascaro of the Associated Press.