Fast Facts
- McCarthy needs 218 votes to become speaker if all congressmen are present. Republicans have a slim majority of 222 lawmakers, so McCarthy can leave only four GOP minds unchanged.
- The House adjourned Thursday evening after eleven total failed attempts to elect a speaker, the first time since the Civil War.
- McCarthy is making “progress” on a deal with the House Freedom Caucus, but no deal has been reached yet. Negotiations remained in a “good spot” as of Friday morning, according to a source.
- The House began its fourth day of votes Friday and McCarthy managed to gain the votes of 15 previous holdouts in the 12th and 13th rounds.
- The House will reconvene at 10 p.m. ET Friday evening to conduct a 14th ballot, and McCarthy is confident he will prevail.
We expect the House to elect Rep.-elect Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as House Speaker either late tonight or in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
We don’t know if McCarthy will win on a potential 14th ballot right after the House returns at 10 pm et. But Fox is told the GOP brass does expect McCarthy to prevail tonight.
We do not know the exact “magic number” for McCarthy to win. However, if all 434 members are present, the number is 218. Reps.-elect Wesley Hunt (R-TX) and Ken Buck (R-CO) were absent earlier. Fox is told both will be back tonight. Both are McCarthy supporters. It is possible that other members-elect could be absent – from other side of the aisle. That would lower the threshold for McCarthy and could potentially help him win the Speakership – depending on WHO is absent.
Moreover, Democrats could be absent. Or, if McCarthy fails to flip the six holdouts, they could vote “present.” A “present” vote does not count against the overall tally.
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