McCarthy finally won the speaker's gavel after historic 15 rounds of voting.
The House Republican leadership standoff ended early Saturday morning with Kevin McCarthy winning the speaker's gavel on a historic 15th vote.
It was the longest such election since 1859.
The drama stretched into a fourth day Friday with three more failed votes to decide on a speaker after 11 others over Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday -- the last one ending in a heated one-vote loss at the hands of holdout Matt Gaetz.
McCarthy had been stymied by a small group of hardliners demanding concessions to reshape how the House is run and legislation it prioritizes.
Ahead of the vote for speaker, the magnetometers placed outside the doors of the House chamber in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have been removed, as the new GOP majority demanded.
The GOP’s new proposed House rules had called for removing the magnetometers.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Will Steakin, and Nicole Moeder
As House Republicans enter the 118th Congress in disarray over who will hold the speaker’s gavel, the Democrat-controlled Senate opened with Vice President Kamala Harris swearing in new members and those who won reelection in November.
Among the new faces in the chamber are Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, Alabama’s Katie Britt and Missouri’s Eric Schmitt.
Arizona’s Mark Kelly and Georgia’s Raphael Warnock were sworn in for their first full, six-year terms.
Despite losing majority control in the House, Democrats expanded their advantage in the Senate by one seat.
After House Chaplain Margaret Kibben delivered the opening prayer and the full House recited the Pledge of Allegiance, the 118th Congress is officially underway.
The House is now in a quorum call to determine how many members are present on the floor. ABC News expects that number to be 434, after the death of Rep. Donald McEachin, D-Va.
That means Kevin McCarthy will need 218 votes on the House floor to win the speaker's gavel, assuming all members are present and voting.
After establishing a quorum, the speaker election will begin with the nomination of members and nominating speeches.
The vote for speaker -- a voice roll call vote -- is on track to begin closer to the end of the hour.
If McCarthy fails to get 218 votes, the House can move to recess before holding a second vote on electing a speaker.
-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel
Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who stepped down last month as Democratic leader, declared the second session of the 117th Congress adjourned just before noon.
Pelosi waved the gavel in the air as she thanked those in the chamber, and stepped down to join her colleagues on the floor -- where she is now just one of 434 members preparing to begin a new session of Congress.
Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the new chair of the House Democratic Caucus, will be the one to hand the incoming speaker the gavel.
Current Clerk of the House Cheryl L. Johnson opened the 118th Congress at about noon.
-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel
