The 118th Congress got off to a wild start today as Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy failed to get the votes he needed in three rounds of balloting to pick the new speaker of the House. Nineteen hard-right Republicans opposed McCarthy on the first and second ballots, marking the first time in a century that the majority party’s nominee has suffered such a defeat.

The opposition grew to 20 on the third ballot, as McCarthy’s foes backed Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio even after Jordan nominated and expressed his support for McCarthy. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York actually received more votes than the GOP leader on all three ballots, though Jeffries also fell short of a majority.

The House then adjourned until noon tomorrow.

Tuesday’s votes followed what was a very tense, closed-door meeting of the House Republican conference that reportedly involved some shouting and cursing as the 57-year-old McCarthy argued he had earned the speaker’s gavel, which he has long coveted. “I’ve covered a number of these closed-door meetings. This is about as contentious as it gets,” CNN’s Manu Raju said.

Who’s blocking McCarthy’s bid: “The revolt against Mr. McCarthy,” Catie Edmondson of The New York Times reports, “has been led by a small coterie of ultraconservative lawmakers who have been the most outspoken about their opposition to him. It also includes a larger but quieter group of lawmakers who have long agitated for changes in the way the House operates, and a set of newcomers who have remained largely silent but are weighing their options.”

Most of the Republican rebels are members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, a group that forced out former Speaker John Boehner in 2015 and scuttled McCarthy’s bid to become speaker then as well.

What the GOP fight is about: A number of McCarthy’s opponents have railed against the “status quo” in Congress and have pointed to last month’s speedy passage of a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill as a prime example of legislative malpractice. Many of McCarthy’s anti-establishment opponents reportedly demanded changes that would allow an open amendment process for legislation — and give them more power or specific committee assignments. Yet the numerous concessions they won from McCarthy were not enough to get them to yes. In some cases, the opposition was reportedly rooted in personal differences.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) said in a statement that the hardliners had sought conservative representation on committees and “firm commitments” for votes on a balanced budget, a Texas border plan, congressional term limits and legislation called the Fair Tax Act, which would eliminate funding for the Internal Revenue Service after fiscal year 2025 and replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax.

Other Republicans slammed McCarthy’s foes. “There’s a group of people who have deeply miscalculated,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas said per NBC News. “They’ve calculated that people will see them as these noble freedom fighters fighting for a cause. They can’t seem to say what the cause is. That makes them look pretty f---ing stupid. And they are pretty f---ing stupid.”

How will this end? It’s hard to say at this point. McCarthy told reporters earlier in the day that he holds the record for longest floor speech and has no problem going for the record for most floor votes to win the speakership. But if McCarthy is prepared to continue this game of chicken, it’s also hard to see how he can get a majority of votes at this point. Republican support for his bid may erode as it becomes clear he can’t get the necessary votes.

It's not clear who else could emerge as a viable compromise candidate. Jordan reportedly said there’s no chance he’ll become speaker. Roll Call reports that, if the stalemate drags on for days, “members of the Republican Main Street Caucus, the Republican Governance Group and the Problem Solvers Caucus have a backup plan. They would team up with Democrats to nominate retiring Michigan GOP Rep. Fred Upton for speaker. The position does not need to be held by a lawmaker, but no Congress has ever elected a speaker who wasn’t also serving as a member.”

The bottom line: We all knew that a divided Congress and a Republican-led House would likely lead to gridlock — or chaos — on Capitol Hill and familiar headaches for GOP leaders trying to contend with intraparty divisions and an ever more assertive right flank. Today delivered a taste of what’s ahead. The GOP looks dysfunctional, plain and simple, and the business of Congress isn’t getting done. New members of Congress can’t even be sworn in until a speaker is elected because their oath of office is supposed to be administered by the speaker. And this can go on for days.

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