McCarthy 'forging ahead and taking a stand' after Capitol Hill chaos leaves ... trends now

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is 'forging ahead and taking a stand,' a senior GOP House source told DailyMail.com, after he was denied the House speakership after three votes Tuesday.

Ultimately, 20 rogue Republicans stood in McCarthy's way - and there's no sign they would be swayed overnight to back his bid, while their pick, Rep. Jim Jordan, has continually said he doesn't want the gig. 

The Democrats have no plans to budge either, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries - the Democrats' pick for House Speaker - indicating the party wouldn't get behind a moderate 'consensus candidate.'  

'We are looking for a willing partner to solve problems for the American people, not save the Republicans from their dysfunction,' Jeffries told reporters at a press conference Tuesday night, after the Republican majority adjourned Congress for the day so they could try to work their leadership issues out. 

Earlier, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told two of the Republican rebels - Reps. Paul Gosar and Matt Gaetz - that the Democrats didn't have a deal with McCarthy to sit the votes out, in order to decrease the threshold he would need to capture the majority.

Without a chosen speaker the House of Representatives cannot conduct business, nor can new members be sworn-in. 

The House GOP caucus is expected to meet again Wednesday morning, before the opening gavel at noon, CNN reported Tuesday night.  

Those tripping up McCarthy's leadership bid tend to be from the ultra-MAGA part of the party, claiming to be better supporters of former President Donald Trump than the California Republican. 

Trump, who previously said he supported a McCarthy speakership, told NBC News Tuesday evening, 'we'll see what happens,' further confusing the process. 

The ex-president then railed against the Senate's top Republican, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a post on Truth Social. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top ally of Trump's in the U.S. Senate, fretted Tuesday night that the Republicans playing chicken with the speakership could produce an undesired result: Jeffries getting the gavel. 

'To those Republicans who suggest it is better to have Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker you must understand that means backing policies like: D.C. statehood, Puerto Rican statehood, Abolishing the Electoral College, Packing the Supreme Court and continued broken borders,' Graham tweeted. 

'Trust me when I say the legislative filibuster in the Senate is hanging by a thread,' Graham further warned. 'The last thing we need is Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker.' 

Tuesday's legislative session concluded with McCarthy getting less support than what he had in the morning with 20 House Republicans now backing Jordan. 

It came after 19 Republican rebels derailed McCarthy's bid on the first and second votes to become speaker. 

On the third vote, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds dropped McCarthy in favor of joining the conservatives who backed Jordan.

He said afterwards that McCarthy simply does not have the votes to be Speaker.

'Our conference needs to recess and huddle and find someone or work out the next steps,' Donalds wrote on Twitter. 'But these continuous votes aren't working for anyone. When the dust settles, we will have a Republican Speaker, now is the time for our conference to debate and come to a consensus.'

It is the first time in 100 years a Speaker has not been chosen in the first ballot.

 Now McCarthy, who can only afford to lose four votes out of the 222 Republican members, is facing an uphill battle to take over the gavel from Nancy Pelosi.

If the 20 Republicans stand firm in their opposition of McCarthy, the GOP will have to find another candidate or the leader will have to find another way to gain their support. 

He has already given concessions, including the motion to vacate the chair, in an unsuccessful bid to win their backing after heated meetings and negotiations. Congress cannot start official business until a Speaker is elected. 

Jordan nabbed six GOP votes in the first round, despite previously stating that he did not want the job.

He then rose to nominate McCarthy of California ahead of the second vote, calling on his party to 'come together' in spite of conservatives' open rebellion against him.

But McCarthy's critics resisted. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, among his most vocal detractors, in turn rose to nominate Jordan for the gavel.

Gaetz said Jordan's speech nominating McCarthy showed 'more vision than we’ve ever heard from our alternative.'

'Maybe the right person for the job of Speaker of the House isn't someone who has sold shares of themselves for more than a decade to get it,' Gaetz said.

McCarthy smiled faintly as Gaetz railed against him. 

He told reporters after his second failure, 'We're unified. This isn't about me. This is about the conference now because the members who are holding out.' 

GOP Rep. Bob Good, another member of the so-called 'Never Kevin' coalition, told reporters in between rounds that conservatives wanted Jordan specifically because the Ohio Republican said he does not want to be Speaker.

'He’s a reluctant warrior who I think is gonna ultimately answer the call of his country,' Good told reporters including DailyMail.com.

Republican Rep. Pete Sessions signaled that he believes Tuesday's vote could be a long one - complicating a day that's normally reserved for ceremony and new members of Congress' celebrations with family. 

'I don't think anybody's gonna get tired that's here right now. And then at some point, somebody's gonna have to figure out at what point enough is enough,' Sessions told reporters between the second and third round votes. 

He noted that 'the whole world is watching' the GOP squabble over their leadership. 

McCarthy lost the first round of votes for the Speakership earlier in the afternoon, kicking off a dramatic session that is expected to last hours.

Nineteen House Republicans backed someone other than McCarthy in the initial vote. 

McCarthy ended up finishing second behind House Democrats' new leader Hakeem Jeffries. McCarthy clinched 203 votes, while Jeffries won the support of all 212 members of his caucus.

It's the first time in a century that a House Speaker was not elected on the initial round.

It became apparent soon after the roll call vote began that McCarthy did not have the votes to outright win the gavel.

Audible gasps could be heard in the cavernous House chamber as more than a dozen Republican lawmakers stood in defiance to the California legislator's bid. 

Proceedings began with GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik nominating McCarthy, as expected, and Democrats' new No. 3 Pete Aguilar naming the 118th Congress' new Minority Leader Hakeem

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