ANKARA

Overcoming holdouts from his own ranks, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy was sworn in as the US House speaker early Saturday.

The Republican was elected as the speaker of the US House of Representatives on a historic 15th round of voting early Saturday, in what became the longest contest in 164 years.

He fell one vote short on the 14th ballot, but in the 15th and final round, the tally was 216-212, while the Democrats voted for leader Hakeem Jeffries.

In a tweet after the result, McCarthy said: "I hope one thing is clear after this week: I will never give up. And I will never give up for you, the American people."

In his first speech as the House speaker, McCarthy said: “Now the hard work begins."

"As speaker of the House, my ultimate responsibility is not to my party, my conference, or even our Congress. My responsibility, our responsibility, is to our country.”

Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, is expected to hand over the lectern to McCarthy on Monday.