New Congress live updates: What's next after Kevin McCarthy's speakership win

After standing to cast a voice vote for himself, Kevin McCarthy smiled as he got a round of applause from his GOP supporters – even as it appeared that he would lose the first ballot for speaker.

McCarthy faced enough defections from his conference – with some voting for Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona or Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio – to likely not prevail in the first tally.

But the quick standing ovation for McCarthy was both indicative of the support he still has in the House Republican Conference and the challenges of a slim Republican House majority.

The majority of House Republicans applauded when Rep. Elise Stefanik rose to nominate Kevin McCarthy -- but more than a dozen, most of them sitting by the center aisle in the second to last row of the chamber, sat on their hands. The applause for McCarthy was hardly thunderous.

And with every vote against McCarthy, the sounds of murmuring in the chamber grew, as it also grew more obvious that McCarthy will not have the votes on the first ballot to be elected speaker.

In contrast, Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., had a sustained standing ovation when he nominated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY. Once the applause died down, Aguilar declared, “Today, House Democrats are united” -- prompting even louder and more sustained applause from Democrats -- while McCarthy sat silently and stone-faced on the other side of the aisle.

As McCarthy entered the rear of the chamber through the center door about 15 minutes earlier, he did so quietly and with little fanfare. Most people on the floor seemed not to notice. He walked all the way down to the area in front of the clerk before somebody went to talk to him, and it was a staffer for Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.

-ABC News' Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl

A tense roll call vote for speaker is beginning.

In alphabetical order, members are being asked to say aloud whom they are voting for as speaker.

-ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel

Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., has nominated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York to be the House minority leader.

Jeffries has made history as the first Black leader to be elected leader a congressional caucus. He was elected by Democrats in late November after Rep. Nancy Pelosi announced she was stepping down from the role.

"Today, madam clerk, House Democrats are united by a speaker who will people over politics," Aguilar declared, an apparent dig at Republicans as the party struggles to unite behind a candidate for speaker.

"Hakeem Jeffries has worked his entire life to improve economic opportunity for all people. He's committed to strengthening the American dream by lowering costs for working families, building safer communities by taking weapons of war off streets and by creating good-paying jobs in industries of the future."

"He does not traffic in extremism," Aguilar continued. "He does not grovel to or make excuses for a twice impeached so-called former president. Madam clerk, he does not bend a knee to everyone who would seek to undermine our democracy because, madam clerk, that's not what leaders do."

Jeffries and Pelosi greeted each other on the House floor on Tuesday.