Kevin McCarthy laughs as reporter asks if he'd support Steve Scalise for Speaker

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., appeared to laugh at a reporter Tuesday as she asked about a hypothetical where Steve Scalise became Speaker of the House.

As he came around a corner, reporters fired questions at McCarthy, who is trying to unite a narrow GOP House majority in his bid to become the next Speaker. 

"We are going to have a good day today," he said, as a reporter asked if he had the "votes yet."

NBC's Ali Vitali then asked, "Sir, if you fail, would you support Steve Scalise for Speaker?" McCarthy laughed and didn't answer as he marched by.

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Republicans hold 222 seats in the new House for a four-seat majority, and McCarthy needs 218 votes to claim a majority and the Speakership. That means he can only lose four Republican holdouts, and some of the party's hardliners are still refusing to support him.

Scalise, the Minority Whip and the House GOP’s second most powerful lawmaker, could emerge as a widely acceptable conservative alternative. However, he says he is supporting McCarthy, and some of the Californian’s backers say they will not support a "spite" vote for Scalise. There is even talk of lawmakers trotting in someone from outside the House to seize the gavel, since the Speaker does not have to be a lawmaker.

McCarthy has served as House Minority Leader for the past four years, but he has long been viewed with suspicion by some of the chamber's most conservative members.

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It was members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who caused him to stand down in 2015, when he was expected to replace John Boehner as speaker. They viewed McCarthy as a politician whose heart belongs to the Washington establishment, the ruling elite who for decades have defied conservative efforts to stem the relentless expansion of the federal government. It is lawmakers from the same caucus who are literally barring the door to McCarthy’s ascension to power, despite years of effort by the Californian to prove he was one of them.

The course of events Tuesday could develop in a variety of ways, ranging anywhere from an orderly coronation, to a circus, to utter chaos. If the conservatives opposing McCarthy are bluffing and simply holding out until the last minute for all the concessions they can get, including the right of any single member to force a vote at any time to take down the speaker, then they will cave and McCarthy will glide to victory. Conversely, they could just make their point by denying him the speakership on the first ballot or two and cause some dyspepsia before relenting during a later ballot. 

Some Republicans are threatening to join with Democrats if McCarthy does not prevail and elect a "moderate." McCarthy's allies have held up the prospect of the Democratic candidate, Hakeem Jeffries, sneaking in with a majority of the vote as Republicans devour their own.

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Nancy Pelosi's second run as House Speaker came to an end as Republicans won back the House in the November midterms, although they performed under expectations. She served four-year stints in the powerful job from 2007 to 2011 and 2019 to 2023.

Fox News' Keith Koffler contributed to this report.