Part of McCarthy’s strategy to win the vote for speaker is to get some of the holdouts to vote ‘present,’ several sources say

Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s team believes they have the votes to win the speakership tonight and are already taking steps to organize the House soon after his expected victory, according to multiple GOP sources.

It’s still unclear which members will flip their votes to “present” or in favor of McCarthy.

McCarthy allies have told members to prepare for a very late night to approve a rules package after they are sworn into office, the sources say.

Those final votes could stretch past midnight.

Rep. Byron Donalds flipped his vote to Rep. Kevin McCarthy on Friday, but at one point during the ongoing speaker race, he received the support of 19 fellow members.

Donalds said he’s “probably not” open to the possibility of being speaker at some point in the future, but he respects being considered. 

“It’s just not the job I think I want to do, but what I do respect is you know, my colleagues’ view of me as a leader in this chamber. And so, you know, sometimes you have to step into that gap to try to either forge consensus or get something done. And, you know, I’m just glad I was able to be a part of that,” Donalds said.

Asked how it felt to see his name in the running, Donalds gushed, “It was cool. Oh my god.” 

Searching for more words, he said: “It was surreal. It was wild.”

Donalds didn’t shut the door completely to the possibility of future leadership. 

“You can’t plan this stuff. I think people have goals of what they want to accomplish. But a lot of the times, this is a decision that happens, and then you walk down that path,” he said.

Donalds made history this week as one of the only two Black Americans – along with Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries – to be nominated for speaker.

Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado is among the GOP holdouts considered to be in the mix to vote “present” when the House reconvenes at 10 p.m. ET, multiple sources tell CNN. 

CNN previously reported that Rep. Kevin McCarthy and his allies are trying to convince some of the holdouts to simply vote “present” (rather than for or against him) to help lower the threshold of votes needed for McCarthy to become speaker. 

GOP Reps. Matt Rosendale and Eli Crane are also considered top targets of McCarthy allies in these final hours before returning to the floor, but it wasn’t previously known Boebert is a possibility.

Remember: McCarthy does not technically need 218 votes to become speaker. A majority of those present and voting is required to get the speakership, which is usually 218 lawmakers. But if enough people skip the vote or vote “present,” the number of votes required for a majority can drop. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was elected with 216 votes in 2021.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, set to be the highest-ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, criticized Kevin McCarthy for trading spending cuts in exchange for votes for his bid to become speaker. 

“Appropriations bills are must-pass bills. In order to pass them, there has to be a bipartisan, bicameral agreement like Democrats secured in December. Given the rumors swirling around Representative-elect Kevin McCarthy’s secret spending deals, it does not appear that Republicans understand the appropriations process,” the statement adds.

Some context: McCarthy has made many concessions and promises to lawmakers over the course of negotiations. One of those, according to CNN reporting, would be to cap discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels, which would amount to lower levels for defense and domestic programs.

The Biden administration on Friday announced its largest drawdown yet in US military assistance to Ukraine, but there are lurking concerns that Republicans wielding newfound power in Washington could stand in the way of future aid – especially as chaos brews in the House.

The administration announced a new $2.85 billion drawdown for Ukraine, part of more than $3 billion in new military assistance to Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the administration would work with Congress to “to provide an additional $907 million of Foreign Military Financing under the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022.”

California GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who served as House minority leader in the last session and is now pursuing the House speakership, said in October that Republicans might pull back funding for Ukraine in 2023 if they took the majority in the 2022 midterm elections. Still, after making those comments the GOP leader worked behind the scenes to reassure national security leaders in his conference that he wasn’t planning to abandon Ukraine aid and was just calling for greater oversight of any federal dollars.

But there’s now concern that McCarthy’s troubled bid for the speakership – a history-defying effort that has led to more than a dozen unsuccessful votes this week – could put further limitations on Ukraine aid.

Two of the Republicans who had opposed McCarthy until Friday afternoon – Florida Rep. Byron Donalds and Texas Rep. Chip Roy – had called on the House to change leadership and debate rules over Ukraine aid. Other Ukraine aid skeptics have continued to oppose McCarthy’s bid.

Several Republican members who switched their votes to support McCarthy on Friday said they are encouraged by a framework of an agreement, but provided no specifics about the deal and said talks are ongoing.

Read more:

After more than a dozen votes held over four days, Rep. Kevin McCarthy hasn’t been able to secure the support he needs to become the next speaker of the US House of Representatives.

But he may have some momentum after flipping 15 GOP holdout votes on Friday. Following the 13th failed vote — the second of the day — the House voted to adjourn until 10 p.m. ET.

See some of the best photos from inside the chamber and around the Capitol on Friday:

See more photos from the historic voting session in the House.

Part of Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s strategy to win the vote for speaker is to get some of the holdouts to vote “present,” according to several sources. 

That would reduce the threshold for winning the race below 218 since the rules say the winner of the race needs to have a majority of those voting for a specific candidate.

If two vote “present,” the winning number is still 217. If three vote “present,” that takes it down to 216 to win. 

But if just one person votes “present,” McCarthy would still need to flip a member to win.

Rep. Andy Biggs said he still will not vote for Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker in a tweet.

Biggs is one of the six lawmakers that refused to change their vote to McCarthy even after extensive negotiations.

Rank-and-file Republicans, who have backed Rep. Kevin McCarthy for speaker, say they believe momentum is on their side for the House speaker vote to be done tonight.  

Texas Republican Rep. Troy Nehls told CNN that “we’re moving in the right direction” but urged Republicans to get this done tonight so the House can come back on Monday and “get some work done.”

Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska told reporters that McCarthy allies “definitely have the momentum.” 

“As long as we keep chipping away and going the right direction, I hope it is tonight,” he said. “We definitely have the momentum. I think we still have one or two votes we have to nail down, but that’s what they’re working on.”

Asked if Republicans can govern, Bacon replied, “Yes, but this was not a positive start. However, I think Kevin McCarthy has a good point. We’re going to work out the problems now. If we can work out the problem now, this puts us in a better spot coming out of this.”

House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik told CNN that she is “confident Kevin McCarthy will be elected speaker of the House, as I’ve said a year ago, a year and a half ago, two years ago.”

She praised the vast majority of their conference for rallying around McCarthy: “As you can see, Republicans are unified today and we’re working towards firing Nancy Pelosi once and for all.”

“I am optimistic we are in a great place,” she added.