Kevin McCarthy has been elected as the new Speaker of the US House of Representatives.
Despite having a majority in the chamber, Mr. McCarthy’s party had to go through 15 rounds of voting before being declared the winner.
The dramatic pressure campaign to get party rebel Matt Gaetz to vote for Mr. McCarthy took place live on the House floor before it happened.
In addition to congratulating Mr. McCarthy on his victory, US President Joe Biden said he was looking forward to working with the Republican Party.
He said, “We need to govern in a way that puts the needs of the American people above all else. The American people expect that from their leaders.
Republicans have already stated that they will look into Mr. Biden’s administration and family business dealings.
In a remarkable turn of events, Mr. McCarthy was successful in convincing 14 Republican holdouts to vote for him in the 12th round of voting. For the thirteenth ballot, a fifteenth rebel followed suit.
Mr. McCarthy has made a number of concessions to the rebels, including a seat on the powerful rules committee that determines how legislation is discussed in the chamber.
The Republican coalition may easily splinter once more even after Mr. McCarthy’s victory because he also agreed to lower the bar for calling a vote on whether to remove the Speaker to just one House member.