The House floor erupted in cheers as Ryan Zinke, a lawmaker from Montana, cast the final vote, signalling that Mr. McCarthy had finally won.
McCarthy gave other lawmakers hugs and autographs while the Democratic side of the room remained utterly silent. No democrats cheered.
Senior Democratic Party lawmakers compared the standoff to the ruckus that occurred precisely two years ago on Capitol Hill by Trump supporters who disrupted Mr. Biden’s speech and accused Mr. McCarthy of relinquishing control to an extreme wing of his party.
Congressman Eric Swalwell posted on Twitter that “insurrectionists failed to take over the Capitol two years ago.” “Kevin McCarthy allowed them to seize control of the Republican Party tonight.”
Don Beyer, a congressman from Virginia, also mentioned the irate Republican reactions after the 14th count.
He called it “unsettling” that this procedure ended with threats of violence in the House Chamber on this day of all days. “Although it may not have affected the outcome, that is not how the affairs of the people should be handled. Long after this session is over, it’s likely that people will recall a gloomy and sombre moment.”
Mr. McCarthy finally hugged House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries after receiving the Speaker’s gavel.
The minority Democrats had persisted in supporting their leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the first black person to ever head a political party in Congress.
The first day that Mr. McCarthy’s vote total really exceeded Mr. Jeffries’s was Friday.
That was easy, eh?, Mr. McCarthy joked in the opening of his acceptance speech. He listed a number of Republican policy goals, such as reducing costs, safeguarding the US-Mexico border, and combating what he called a “woke brainwashing.”
He stated that stopping “wasteful Washington spending” was one of his major priorities.
Around 2:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Saturday, 14 hours after the gavel initially rung at midday, the MPs started to leave the Congress.
