Intro

Representative Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become speaker of the House turned into a rolling disaster last week, played out over five long days and 15 rounds of voting. 

Today, the inside story of how it went so wrong — and what he was forced to give up in order to finally win.

Guest: Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Mr. McCarthy’s slog to the speakership ended with a remarkably public show of intraparty strife during a history-making overnight session.
• The speaker’s concessions have given the rebels on the right flank of his party more tools to sow disarray.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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