McCarthy Falls Short in First Vote Amid G.O.P. Revolt

But many others, such as Representative Michael Cloud of Texas, who voted for Mr. Jordan of Ohio, and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, a freshman who voted for Representative Jim Banks of Indiana on the first ballot, had floated under the radar, and the number of defectors quickly approached what Mr. McCarthy’s team had privately hoped would be the worst case scenario.

What was supposed to be a day of jubilation for Republicans instead devolved into a chaotic display of disunity within the party is as it embarked on its first week in power in the House. And 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 the first ballot — 212 to 203 — a symbolic victory 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.

During the first vote on Tuesday, Mr. McCarthy sat placidly on the House floor, as an aide next to him, as well as two of his top deputies, quietly tallied the growing stack of votes against him.

In a room in the basement of the Capitol ahead of the vote, Mr. McCarthy privately made the case that the lawmakers opposing him were selfishly disrupting what was supposed to be a day of unity for their own personal gain.

“I earned this job,” Mr. McCarthy said.

“Bullshit!” came the response from Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado, one of the hard-right Republicans opposing him. (She later told a reporter she did not shout anything during the meeting, but would not say whether she had spoken up.)