• U.S. House of Representatives finally chose GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of California as speaker.
• President Joe Biden issued a statement congratulating McCarthy on his election as House Speaker.
• McCarthy addressed GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Lauren Boebert of Colorado on the House floor.

Following a difficult four days and 14 unsuccessful ballots, the U.S. House of Representatives finally chose GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of California as speaker in a dramatic 15th vote early on Saturday. This was the longest leadership vacuum in the chamber’s history.

McCarthy addressed GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Lauren Boebert of Colorado on the House floor in the middle of the 14th unsuccessful vote, at 11 p.m. ET Friday.

Despite making multiple concessions over the course of the week in order to gain their and other far-right Republicans’ support, they still refused to back McCarthy outright. Instead, they joined four other Republicans in voting “present” in the 15th and final ballot, which helped him capture the gavel by reducing the number of votes he needed to achieve a majority. He received 216 votes out of a total of 428.

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