With Republicans regaining a majority in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy has won his party’s nomination for speaker in the new Congress.
In a closed-door vote on Tuesday, he won 188 votes in his bid to lead the House.
Mr McCarthy needs a majority vote – 218 votes – of the full House in January to secure the role.
If he wins, he will replace Democrat Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.
President Joe Biden’s Democrats already hold control of the Senate.
A native of California, Mr. McCarthy has represented a heavily Republican part of the state in the House since 2007.
He formally announced his candidacy for speaker last week in a letter to House Republicans urging them to “stand together and uphold our mission.”
As votes continue to be counted in some key races, Republicans appear on track to win a razor-thin majority in the House, but fall far short of the “red tide” some had predicted.
Mr McCarthy previously stood for the role of Speaker in 2015 but was forced to withdraw after a misunderstanding.
He said on the Fox News Network that the Republican-led congressional investigation into the 2012 attack on the US diplomatic compound in Libya was designed to damage Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
He then became House Minority Leader after Republicans lost control of the House in the 2018 US mid-term elections – during which Mr McCarthy developed a close relationship with former President Donald Trump.
During the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots, Mr. McCarthy reportedly asked Mr. Trump to go home during a heated phone call.
But days later, he visited the former president at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida and appeared to make peace.
On Tuesday, Mr. McCarthy easily defeated Congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona for the speaker nomination, 188 votes to 31.
But Mr McCarthy must now win over colleagues who voted for Mr Biggs to become speaker in January.
Republican leadership in the Senate could also face obstacles after Florida Sen. Rick Scott announced to colleagues at a luncheon Tuesday his intention to challenge incumbent Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
It is the first opposition Mr McConnell has faced in 15 years, signaling a split within the Republican Party following disappointing results in US mid-term elections.
Democrats will retain control of the Senate after gaining 50 seats in the midterms, one more than Republicans. Elections in Georgia next month could give Democrats an extra seat.
