The 118th United States Congress officially begins today, with lawmakers taking their oaths of office amid a leadership fight in the House of Representatives. Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is the front-runner to be elected speaker of the House but appears short of the 218 votes needed to clinch a victory in the first round of voting. That’s despite a major concession McCarthy made to far-right Republicans over the weekend, when he agreed to a rule that would allow a snap election at any time to oust him from the role of House speaker.