A small group of far-right Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to be the speaker of the House in the new Congress that started Tuesday.⁠ ⁠ McCarthy lost 19 Republicans, falling 15 votes short of the 218 he needed to win⁠ ⁠ The House can’t function without a speaker, so members will have to cast ballots again. And McCarthy could still prevail in a later vote if his Republican opponents tire of the stalemate they created.⁠ ⁠ In a party meeting Tuesday morning, McCarthy told his colleagues that he’d earned the job — and that the House would keep voting until he wins.⁠ ⁠ “We may have a battle on the floor, but the battle is for the conference and the country, and that’s fine with me” McCarthy told reporters after the meeting.⁠ ⁠ Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) offered himself as an alternative to McCarthy, even though he badly lost an internal election among the House Republican Conference in November. Both sides have suggested that if McCarthy can’t win, then an unknown consensus candidate will step forward.⁠ ⁠ Though it’s not a permanent setback, McCarthy’s failure to win the speakership on the first vote is historic. The House hasn’t needed more than one ballot to elect a speaker since 1923, according to the Congressional Research Service.⁠ ⁠ Read more at our link in bio. // 📷 Getty Images // 🖊️ Arthur Delaney