It took several votes by House Republicans before a Speaker was chosen and agreed to by the caucus.
Now we know why. According to Matt Gaetz and Nancy Mace, McCarthy was working behind the scenes to derail any potential candidate for Speaker including Jim Jordan, arguably the most popular Republican in Congress.
Nancy Mace did not hold back!
Rep. Nancy Mace: I just want to be clear, and I think Mac Eight clarified this yesterday. This almost didn’t happen because the disgraced former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, every time someone ascended, he would knife them in the back and they couldn’t become speaker. But thank God we have now Mike Johnson, who is a strong conservative, a man of faith, and someone who’s going to work hard. And guess what? He’s not a part of the establishment. He’s not a part of one of K Street’s favorites, right?… The eight of us and others held the line, and we got us to where we are today. And this is a new direction, a new day for America…