The GOP leader Kevin McCarthy was elected House speaker after historic 15 rounds of votes.

RELATED: On 15th ballot, Kevin McCarthy clinches House speaker with some Republican holdouts https://bit.ly/3vQLsIc

Rep. Kevin McCarthy clinched the election to become the 55th person to serve as speaker of the House after a marathon 15 rounds of voting since Tuesday and a series of concessions that moved power from his new position to a cadre of hard-right lawmakers.

His election came two years after the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol – a day when McCarthy, his top deputies and 19 of the 20 holdouts he negotiated with to win all voted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

On that day two years ago, McCarthy reportedly called former President Donald Trump, imploring him to call off his supporters who were ransacking the Capitol. Today – and all week – McCarthy was begging for votes from some of Trump’s biggest supporters. That includes Rep. Matt Gaetz, who nominated and voted for Trump as House speaker.

» Subscribe to USA TODAY: http://bit.ly/1xa3XAh
» Watch more on this and other topics from USA TODAY: https://bit.ly/3QkGKfs
» USA TODAY delivers current local and national news, sports, entertainment, finance, technology, and more through award-winning journalism, photos, videos and VR.

#congress #kevinmccarthy