A group of about 20 defecting members continues to vote against McCarthy, switching back and forth between alternatives and giving angry speeches about "the swamp" and McCarthy's character flaws.

Source: https://www.salon.com/2023/01/06/does-it-even-matter-the-next-speaker-of-the-is-if-insurrectionists-are-running-the-show/

Angry colleagues have labelled them "enemies", "narcissists" and even "the Taliban", but the 20 Republicans blocking their leader Kevin McCarthy's bid to become speaker have not budged.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64171119?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

But McCarthy's leverage is greatest as the “X-date” approaches at some point this summer and markets are biding their time.

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/congress-ap-joe-biden-kevin-mccarthy-white-house-b2298722.html

Conversely, with Democrats still holding the Senate and White House, McCarthy's push for massive spending cuts as outlined in his Limit Save Grow Bill are virtually non-starters even if he's able to wrangle his own caucus.

Source: https://theweek.com/national-debt/1023388/the-numbers-you-need-to-know-to-understand-the-debt-ceiling-fight

Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images Kevin McCarthy's race to become House Speaker looks set to go down to the wire.

Source: https://www.onenewspage.com/n/World/1zpjuwzjel/hardline-Republicans-are-withholding-support-for-Kevin.htm

During one of Kevin McCarthy's gauntlet of punishing votes, it was striking to see with whom he passed the time.

Source: https://www.nationalmemo.com/danziger-draws-2659216828

Experts are reacting to McCarthy's statement on Thursday, calling it "outrageous."

Source: https://www.salon.com/2023/01/13/not-sure-thats-how-it-works-experts-mock-kevin-mccarthys-plan-to-expunge-impeachment/

Fast forward to January 2023 and the secret contentious negotiations that eventually culminated in Kevin McCarthy's election as Speaker of the House.

Source: https://www.opednews.com/articles/A-Lesson-for-America-on-th-American-Capitalism_American-Facism_Hitler-230123-36.html

He also agreed to lower the threshold for triggering a vote on whether to unseat the Speaker, to only one House member, leading to the possibility that the Republican coalition could easily fracture again even after Mr McCarthy's victory.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64193932?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Julia Letlow (R) and Garret Graves (R), a key member of McCarthy's negotiating team during the debt ceiling fight, could see their districts diluted in Republican voting strength if litigation over the state's map goes the same way as Alabama's.

Source: https://gazette.com/news/wex/house-gop-woes-grow-with-conservative-rebellion-over-spending-and-debt-ceiling-deal/article_72c01add-455f-5e69-9d88-43595d52d8c5.html

Kevin McCarthy's hopes for US House speaker wither.

Source: https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/former-funeral-home-owner-sentenced-to-20-years-for-selling-body-parts-1413689.html

"Kevin McCarthy's purely partisan move to strip us of our committee is not only a political stunt," she concluded, "but also a blow to the integrity of our democratic institution and a threat to our national security."

Source: https://theweek.com/house-of-representatives/1020378/democrats-schiff-omar-and-swalwell-unleash-on-speaker-mccarthys

McCarthy's more cautious foreign policy approach makes sense politically for the new leader as he tries to steer a Republican party that has become more isolationist, and less willing to engage the U.S. abroad as an earlier generation of lawmakers.

Source: https://abc11.com/kevin-mccarthy-taiwan-president-tsai/13092072/

McCarthy's move opens him up to a challenge for his gavel.

Source: https://www.lpm.org/news/2023-10-01/congress-passes-spending-stopgap-averting-a-shutdown-hours-before-midnight-deadline

Of course, some of those changes come at the expense of McCarthy's power, and the current honeymoon mood among House Republicans after the dayslong deadlock won't last.

Source: https://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/rich-lowry-how-chip-roy-won-the-speaker-fight/article_26e15f50-9389-11ed-af05-ab42e8d89db4.html

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) also felt optimistic about McCarthy's chances, although he did acknowledge that, "I don’t think it’s ever beneficial, particularly, to have family fights in public."

Source: https://www.rawstory.com/kevin-mccarthy-2665587489/

Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, one of McCarthy's closest allies, has pointed out that the Senate has advanced legislation at spending levels above those in the deal reached with Biden.

Source: https://www.startribune.com/speaker-mccarthy-is-giving-hard-right-republicans-what-they-want-but-it-never-seems-to-be-enough/600306989/

The notable exceptions have come from those who engineered the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, including Matt Gaetz, who said, "I don't think that other countries think about Kevin McCarthy's speakership quite as much as Kevin McCarthy does."

Source: https://kiowacountypress.net/content/why-crisis-israel-putting-pressure-gop-act-over-vacant-house-speaker%C2%A0role

What’s going to happen to the people in Speaker Kevin McCarthy's Bakersfield district when the United States of America defaults on its debt?

Source: https://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/letters-to-editor/letter-to-the-editor-will-mccarthy-show-his-face/article_fd1bd350-fbeb-11ed-a4bf-37e250a1c919.html

White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Shalanda Young mocked McCarthy's own insistence that he wouldn't take a paycheck during the shutdown.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12576245/Kevin-McCarthy-throws-gauntlet-right-wing-rebels-48-hours-shutdown-Fed-Speaker-says-critics-vote-against-spending-bill-siding-BIDEN-open-borders.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490