House G.O.P. Paralyzed on Day 1 as Right Wing Blocks McCarthy Speakership

WASHINGTON — Republicans were deadlocked on Tuesday over who would lead their new majority after Representative Kevin McCarthy of California lost three votes for the top job, as hard-right lawmakers in open revolt dealt their party leader a humiliating setback and prompted a historic struggle on the House floor.

The mutiny, waged by ultraconservative lawmakers who for weeks have held fast to their vow to oppose Mr. McCarthy, paralyzed the House on the first day of Republican rule, delaying the swearing in of hundreds of members of Congress, putting off any legislative work and exposing deep divisions that threaten to make the party’s House majority ungovernable.

After three fruitless votes, the House adjourned without a leader late Tuesday afternoon, agreeing to reconvene at noon on Wednesday to begin the process anew.

That did not end the California Republican’s bid for speaker. He has vowed not to back down until he secures the post, forcing multiple votes if necessary until he wins and raising the prospect of a grueling stretch of votes that could go on for days.

“I’m staying until we win,” Mr. McCarthy told reporters between the second and third votes. “I know the path.”

House precedent dictates that members continue to take votes until someone secures the majority needed to prevail. But until Tuesday, the House had not failed to elect a speaker on the first roll call vote since 1923, when the election stretched for nine ballots.

It was not clear how long it might take for Republicans to resolve their stalemate this time, or what Mr. McCarthy’s strategy was, if he had one, for coming back from an embarrassing series of defeats. No viable challenger has yet emerged — Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona, a ringleader of the rebellion, drew only 10 votes during the first ballot — but if Mr. McCarthy continues to flounder, Republicans could shift their votes to an alternative, such as his No. 2, Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana.

On Tuesday, right-wing Republicans coalesced behind Representative Jim Jordan, a founding member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, as an alternative to Mr. McCarthy, whom they derided as being single-mindedly obsessed with winning the job and willing to do whatever was necessary to do so.

“Maybe the right person is someone who hasn’t sold shares of himself to get it,” Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida said when he rose to nominate Mr. Jordan instead, as Mr. McCarthy sat nearby wearing a smirk.

Mr. Jordan, a onetime rival who has since allied himself with Mr. McCarthy, pleaded with his colleagues to unite behind the California Republican.

“We need to rally around him and come together,” Mr. Jordan said.

But on Tuesday, Republicans refused to do so. The failed votes showed publicly the extent of the opposition Mr. McCarthy faces in his quest for the speaker’s gavel. With all members of the House present and voting, Mr. McCarthy needs to receive 218 votes to become speaker, leaving little room for Republican defections since the party controls only 222 seats. He fell short again and again, drawing only 203 on the first two ballots.

By the third ballot, only one lawmaker had changed his position — Representative Byron Donalds of Florida, a member of the Freedom Caucus who shifted his support to Mr. Jordan, leaving Mr. McCarthy with 202. Mr. Donalds later told reporters that he was open to voting for Mr. McCarthy again, underscoring the unwieldy nature of the process.

“Our conference needs to recess and huddle and find someone or work out the next steps, but these continuous votes aren’t working for anyone,” Mr. Donalds said in a statement.

A quintet of Mr. McCarthy’s detractors including Mr. Biggs, the former Freedom Caucus chairman, and Mr. Gaetz had telegraphed loudly for weeks that it would oppose him for speaker.

But many others, such as Representative Michael Cloud of Texas and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, an incoming freshman, had remained quiet and kept their opposition under the radar. As they made their positions known during the first vote, the number of defectors piled up, quickly approaching what Mr. McCarthy’s team had privately hoped would be the worst case scenario.

The result was that what was supposed to be a day of jubilation for Republicans instead devolved into a chaotic display of disunity within the party. It all but guaranteed that even if Mr. McCarthy eked out a victory — an outcome that appeared remote, given the stalemate at hand — he would be a diminished speaker beholden to an empowered right flank.

With Democrats holding together behind their leader, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York won more votes than Mr. McCarthy did for speaker on each vote — symbolic victories since Mr. Jeffries did not have the support to claim the top job, but an embarrassing metric for the California Republican who has been campaigning for the post for years.

Voting for Mr. Jeffries were several Democrats who had been expected to lose tough races to loyalists of Mr. McCarthy in midterm elections in which a red wave was projected to sweep Republicans to power with a comfortable margin of control. But the wave never materialized, and in one key election after another, Democrats cruised to victory, handing Mr. McCarthy the razor-thin majority that now torments him.

Mr. McCarthy’s defeats came after an excruciating weekslong lobbying campaign he undertook in an effort to sew up the votes needed for election, in which he toiled to appease his right flank by embracing their tactics and agenda. He took a hard line against legislation to fund the government and avert a shutdown and called on Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, to resign or face potential impeachment proceedings.