MCCARTHY could end this TODAY. McCarthy is the person dragging this out. McCarthy is to blame. Whatever the reason he cannot be elected, whatever it is, McCarthy could end this NOW by stepping aside. But McCarthy refuses to do that.
McCarthy is willing to take the Republican Party and America down with him. McCarthy is saying, "If I cannot be speaker, then nobody will be speaker. I will just blow the whole thing up!"
Actually, that wouldn't necessarily end it NOW. You'd still have to find someone who could get to 218, which might be kind of tough considering the hard feelings on both sides. The 200 may only agree to someone else if the 20 drop ALL of their other demands.
Of course, the thing that would end it NOW for certain would be to elect McCarthy.