'Battle is for the conference and the country' -McCarthy

STORY: Republicans won a narrow 222-212 majority in November's election, meaning that McCarthy -- or any candidate for speaker -- will need to unify a fractious caucus to win the gavel.

Hardliners including Representatives Scott Perry, Andy Biggs and Lauren Boebert, oppose him, concerned that McCarthy is less deeply vested in the culture wars and partisan rivalries that have dominated the House and even more so since Donald Trump's White House years.

McCarthy tried to persuade the holdouts in a morning party meeting, vowing to stay in the race until he gets the necessary votes, but many participants emerged from the gathering undaunted.

"We may have a battle on the floor but the battle is for the conference and the country," McCarthy told reporters afterward. McCarthy withdrew from his last bid for speakership in 2015 in the face of conservative oppositions.