This came after four days and 14 failed ballots, the longest the House has gone leaderless in a century.

The standoff ended with far-right Republican holdouts voting present, which dropped the tally McCarthy needed.

The tally was 216-212 with Democrats voting for leader Hakeem Jeffries, and six Republican holdouts to McCarthy simply voting present.

The agreement McCarthy presented to the holdouts from the Freedom Caucus and others centers around rules changes they have been seeking for months. Those changes would shrink the power of the speaker’s office and give rank-and-file lawmakers more influence in drafting and passing legislation.

At the core of the emerging deal was the reinstatement of a House rule that would allow a single lawmaker to make a motion to “vacate the chair,” essentially calling a vote to oust the speaker.

Other wins for the holdouts include provisions in the proposed deal to expand the number of seats available on the House Rules Committee; to mandate 72 hours for bills to be posted before votes; and to promise to try for a constitutional amendment that would impose federal limits on the number of terms a person could serve in the House and Senate.

Member-elects were finally sworn into office following the election of McCarthy as Speaker, including 23rd Congressional District Representative Nick Langworthy.

Langworthy, who supported McCarthy through the entire balloting process, issued a statement that said, “Kevin McCarthy led us to a majority and he will be an incredible leader for the House of Representatives. We will keep our Commitment to America by reducing inflation, securing our borders, taking on China and fighting for safer communities for all of us.”