Greetings from the buzzing press gallery above the House floor. The new House has officially gavelled into session and is about to begin voting for the next speaker. It is abundantly clear that KEVIN McCARTHY does not have the votes to get the gavel. In fact, he admitted as much to his colleagues in a tense closed-door conference meeting this morning — telling them that there could be as many as 20 Republicans who vote against him, as Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney report. (Reminder: McCarthy needs 218 votes to become speaker. There are 222 House Republicans in the new Congress.) Just before the meeting, House Freedom Caucus leader SCOTT PERRY (R-Pa.) put out a letter signaling that he's a "no" on McCarthy. "Kevin McCarthy had an opportunity to be Speaker of the House. He rejected it," he wrote. Then McCarthy's headache became a full-blown migraine. This morning's GOP huddle in the basement of the Capitol — complete with cursing and threats — will be one for the history books. A defiant McCarthy opened by announcing that he would not negotiate any further with his GOP critics and vowing to fight on the floor until the bitter end — even if there are only four members backing him. He also argued that he's essentially owed the speakership — a remark that will only exacerbate tensions. "I earned this job!" he shouted at his detractors in the room. "This is bullshit!" Rep. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-Colo.) yelled in response. Upon leaving the room, she told reporters that she was a "no" on McCarthy. The debate devolved into McCarthy allies standing up and grilling "Never Kevin" Republicans, accusing them of putting their own selfish reservations about his leadership over the good of the party and country. McCarthy suggested that they'd rather see incoming House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-N.Y.) as speaker than him. At one point, Rep. MIKE ROGERS (R-Ala.) stood and warned that anyone who voted against McCarthy would lose their committee seats. That threat so infuriated Rep. CHIP ROY (R-Texas) that he started cursing, and stood to get in line to speak. SO WHAT HAPPENS NOW? After McCarthy fails to get 218 votes on the first ballot, the Freedom Caucus antagonists have signaled that they will start backing another yet-unnamed candidate on the second ballot. The Daily Beast reported Monday night that that person is Ohio Rep. JIM JORDAN, the longtime McCarthy critic-turned-ally. The Ohio Republican, however, has no shot at being speaker — something that his adoring conservative colleagues know very well. But, per the Daily Beast story, that's not the point: They're hoping to peel off more Republicans to back Jordan, aiming to have McCarthy's vote count decrease from the first ballot to the second. It's an open question how long today will go until someone nominates a viable candidate for the gavel — someone like STEVE SCALISE (R-La.) or PATRICK McHENRY (R-N.C.). And there's a fear that if one of these member's names is called too early in the process, the conference will turn on them. Buckle up. It's going to be a long day. More from the Hill: — Rep. DAN BISHOP (R-N.C.) is officially a no on McCarthy. "He has perpetuated the Washington status quo that makes this body one of the most unsuccessful and unpopular institutions in the country. This is not about personality differences or who has 'earned' the position. It's about serving the American people," Bishop said in a statement. (Our colleague Jonathan Martin notes that the McCarthy-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund spent $2.4 million to boost Bishop in his 2019 special election.) — Rep. MATT GAETZ (R-Fla.), reiterating his opposition to McCarthy: "If you want to drain the swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise. I'm a Florida man and I know of what I speak." Watch the clip — One to watch: "KEEP an eye on incoming freshman ELI CRANE (R-Ariz.), been hearing from R sources they think he is likely a no vote," tweets Olivia Beavers. — A sideshow to the McCarthy chaos: "Rep-elect GEORGE SANTOS stepped out of his office with some aides and his attorney. He didn't respond to any questions from reporters other than saying he'd support McCarthy," tweets Nicholas Wu. Santos was also spotted sitting alone in the back of the House chamber just after noon. — And Rep. TED LIEU (D-Calif.) was in a trolling mood ahead of the speaker vote.
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