McCarthy is desperate with a capital D to be speaker of the House. He’s negotiating all sorts of concessions to get to the magic number 218. That’s how many votes he needs to win the gavel after the new members of Congress are sworn in.

McCarthy is desperate with a capital D to be speaker of the House. He’s negotiating all sorts of concessions to get to the magic number 218. That’s how many votes he needs to win the gavel after the new members of Congress are sworn in.