GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz on his decision to vote 'present' in the final House speaker roll call vote despite his opposition to McCarthy: 'I ran out of things I could even imagine to ask for'

One of the most prominent detractors of Kevin McCarthy was Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who was known for his alliance with Donald Trump.

Gaetz came into the original January 3 vote seeking new leadership, along with a vote cast for Trump.

At one point, Gaetz referred to McCarthy as the "Lebron James of special interest fundraising" in Washington, while questioning why he was putting the House through so many rounds of votes.

Gaetz switched his vote from Jordan to himself on the 14th ballot, when the majority of the conservative holdouts had decided to back McCarthy.

Gaetz's move was seen as a breakthrough by many members of the larger caucus as McCarthy remained one vote shy of winning the speaker's gavel. After the 14th round of voting, Rogers confronted Gaetz and appeared to lunge at him.

Gaetz and other Republicans voted "present" in the 15th and final roll call vote, which lowered the numerical threshold for victory.

Gaetz told CNN that he "ran out of additional concessions to ask of leadership" when he changed his strategy.

He said that he ran out of things to ask for.

According to CNN, Gaetz asked McCarthy to chair a House armed services subcommittee, but the GOP leader refused.

McCarthy struggled to consolidate the support of roughly 20 conservatives and earn fewer votes than Jeffries in the early stages of the voting process to pick a new speaker.

With the Republican Party's razor-thin 222-212 edge over the Democrats, McCarthy couldn't afford to lose more than a few members, a dilemma that gave the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus enormous leverage with leadership.

Making it harder for the House to raise taxes or the debt limit is part of the GOP rules package. The new rules would give conservatives more power in the lower chamber.