Photos: Scenes from historic speaker vote of 118th Congress

NEW YORK — With House Republicans riven by infighting, unable to coalesce around a pick for speaker, former President Donald Trump had an emphatic message for the new GOP majority.

The religious makeup of the incoming 118th Congress looks more like what America used to be than what it is today. Congress is more Christian and religious overall than the general population. 

The switched votes from conservative holdouts put McCarthy closer to seizing the gavel for the new Congress — but not yet able.

Republican Kevin McCarthy finally won the House speakership on a 15th ballot early Saturday, after tensions erupted on the House floor. He prevailed after a grueling standoff that tested American democracy and the GOP majority’s ability to govern.

House Clerk Cheryl Johnson became an unlikely folk hero in Washington this past week, running the lower chamber of Congress with a steady hand as Republicans struggled to elect a speaker amid historic chaos.

It was the extraordinary moment that brought House Republicans to the brink — and ultimately the moment they found their way back.

Voters who support Lauren Boebert are hoping the firebrand Republican congresswoman from Colorado tones down her brash style. Their concerns come after the far-right politician's pitch seemed to find less appeal in her reelection race last November.

As Republican infighting debilitates Washington, some state legislatures have managed to launch sessions complicated by similar GOP partisan divides or razor-thin margins of party control with creative, if yet untested, solutions.

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz is emerging from last week’s bitter speaker fight as the member of Congress everyone in Washington loves to hate.

Ideological infighting and internal battles have long been a part of politics. But this year, while some conservative Republicans staged a revolt against the leader of their party until their demands were met, progressive Democrats in the House are pitching unity.

Republican Kevin McCarthy wrapped his first full week as House speaker in the most outwardly orderly way. But the semblance of House GOP unity is all but certain to be temporary as Congress faces more difficult questions ahead.

Move out of the way, TV dinners, and get ready for avocado toast. Baby boomers, or those born from 1946 to 1964, no longer make up the majority of Congress. While still clinging to the top generational spot, boomers make up only a plurality of the newly convened 118th Congress.

Rep. James Comer has a balancing act ahead of him as the new chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Accountability Committee, which has already signaled many investigations of the Biden administration and family are on the way.

By week's end, the Republican National Committee is set to resolve a bitter leadership feud that has exposed perilous divisions within a party that has struggled to move past a disappointing midterm ahead of a critical race for the White House.

He said the decision was not based on political payback but because "integrity matters, and they have failed in that place."

Republican U.S. Rep. George Santos claims in a newly surfaced interview that he was mugged in broad daylight a block from Trump Tower in Manhattan — and the crooks even took the shoes off his feet.

Of all the questions swirling around U.S. Rep. George Santos, one of the most serious has been how he amassed the personal fortune he claimed to have used to finance his campaign.

It's not an easy job corralling votes from House Republicans and trying to hold together a fractious majority well enough to pass party priorities. That task now falls to a former youth hockey coach from Minnesota, Rep. Tom Emmer.

Ronna McDaniel has become the longest serving leader of the Republican National Committee since the Civil War. But now, she must confront a modern-day civil war within the GOP. 

Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan sees a coastal bias within the Democratic Party that she hopes to correct with the creation of the Heartland Caucus, one of the 118th Congress’ newest member groups.

It’s the first time the four leaders of the two congressional spending committees are women. Sitting down for their first joint interview, along with Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, the women say their camaraderie and willingness to collaborate will be crucial this year.

The 118th Congress is the most diverse in history. But disparities persist as lawmakers choose the people who run things behind the scenes — their staff.