Rep. Kevin McCarthy was within two or three votes of winning the marathon race to become Speaker of the House when the Republican majority voted on Jan. 6 to adjourn until 10 pm.
The adjournment is meant to give McCarthy and his team time to find a way to switch enough of the last six holdouts in a group of 20 populist conservative Members who have opposed the California Republican from the outset of the Speaker contest since on Jan. 3.
When Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) switched his vote during the 13th roll call, it brought a huge cheer from the Republicans in the chamber because it put McCarthy one key vote closer to victory, with a total of 214….}