text: In reply to message73942: ONLY if 6 'republicans' vote for him. 218 needed, Dems have only 212 available, still need the others. That is why McCarthy is trying to come to an agreement with the dems to either not vote or vote "present"...then the total needed for McCarthy goes down (he need 1/2 of the votes, "no vote" & "present" don't count as a vote. Every 2 that do that lowers McC's requirement by 1. 20 dems not voting would lower the 1/2 needed to 208.