EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:
The Associated Press is offering video of the following Republican Congress members commenting on Kevin McCarthy's bid to become House speaker. Use it on your broadcasts, websites, social media platforms and elsewhere:
VIRGINIA: Rep. Bob Good
SOUTH CAROLINA: Rep. Ralph Norman
FLORIDA: Rep. Byron Donalds
TEXAS: Rep. Dan Crenshaw
OKLAHOMA: Rep. Tom Cole
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GET THE VIDEO:
Kevin McCarthy faces headwinds to be House Speaker
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FIND AP’S LATEST COVERAGE:
McCarthy promises ‘battle’ to be speaker as Congress opens
EXPLAINER: How the House of Representatives elects a speaker
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House Republicans teetered on the brink of chaos Tuesday, the opening day of the new Congress, with GOP leader Kevin McCarthy pledging a “battle on the floor” if needed to overcome right-flank colleagues who are refusing to give him their votes to become House speaker.
Even before Congress convened at noon, the scene playing out on Capitol Hill was one of upheaval and uncertainty. The standoff means McCarthy, after having led his party to a narrow Republican majority, was grasping for his political survival, trying to avoid being the first majority nominee for speaker in 100 years to fail to win an initial vote for the gavel.
McCarthy emerged from a contentious closed-door meeting with fellow House Republicans unable to win over detractors and lacking the support needed to become speaker. He vowed to fight to the finish - even if it takes multiple tries in a public spectacle that would underscore divisions in his party and weaken its leadership in the first days of the new Congress.
“We may have a battle on the floor, but the battle is for the conference and the country,” McCarthy said at the Capitol.
A core group of conservatives led by the Freedom Caucus and aligned with former President Donald Trump’s MAGA agenda was furious, calling the private meeting a “beatdown” by McCarthy allies and remaining steadfast in their opposition to the California lawmaker.
