Kevin McCarthy faces another Republican showdown with rules vote tonight

Just days after finally earning the Speaker's gavel, Kevin McCarthy will face another showdown within the GOP when voting commences Monday evening to adopt a new rules package for the 118th Congress.

The House Speaker made some substantial concessions in order to earn his new post – several of which may not please all Republicans and could lead to another week of chaos on the House floor.

Tony Gonzales of Texas said he is a 'no' and Nancy Mace of South Carolina said she is on the fence – making two Republican representatives who have already publicly signaled they could take away votes needed to pass the rules package.

All 212 Democrats will vote against the rules package.

The House will convene at 5:00 p.m. on Monday and first votes are expected to commence around 6:30 p.m., but it's unclear if the rules package will pass this evening by the time the last votes are expected at 9:00 p.m. 

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had to give into some major concessions for conservative members to earn his new position, which could lead to more drama within the GOP during a vote on the new rules package Monday

At least two Republican lawmakers, Nancy Mace (left) and Tony Gonzales (right), signaled publicly that they will vote against the rules package 

Rules packages hardly ever receive attention among routine procedures of a new Congress. But this new Congress has been anything but ordinary, requiring 15 rounds of voting to elect McCarthy as Speaker.

Congress hasn't failed to elect a Speaker on the first ballot in 100 years – until last week.

Among the most extreme concessions McCarthy had to make was agreeing to restore the motion to vacate, but with the additional provision that any single member would have the power to call for a vote to remove him from his new seat.

This takes a lot of power away from McCarthy and forces him to stay in line with what the group of conservative members want him to do, or else he could easily lose the speakership.

Those Republican lawmakers who could vote against the rules package argue that McCarthy gave up too much to win his speakership after 20 conservatives and more far-right members refused to cast their ballot for him in multiple rounds of voting.

Moderates aren't pleased with concessions given by McCarthy and argue that the Party leadership needs to stand up to conservatives or else risk being steamrolled for the next two years.

The rules package is simply the rules and guidelines under which the House of Representatives operates.

A group of 20 conservative lawmakers, including Representatives Matt Gaetz (left) and Lauren Boebert (right) refused to let McCarthy ascend to the speakership without giving into their concessions, which includes allowing just one member to trigger a motion to vacate removing McCarthy as Speaker

It took McCarthy 15 rounds of voting to finally become Speaker last week

This year, the House rules became a huge part of negotiations between McCarthy and his allies with the 20 hardline conservatives, many of whom are part of the House Freedom Caucus, who refused to elect him speaker without a deal massively in their favor.

Conservatives want more power in Congress and claim the status quo needs to change within leadership. To cement this while also allowing McCarthy to become speaker, they required that the rules included securing three of the nine seats on the House Rules Committee for Freedom Caucus members.

The powerful House Rules Committee has a big say in whether bills and amendments are brought to the floor.

Besides the rules packages, Republicans plan to use their first full week in the House majority by zeroing-in on a massive increase in spending at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which includes expanding the workforce and increasing audits.

McCarthy also plans to establish a select committee on China, as well as stop petroleum sales to Beijing.

Chaos erupted on the House floor last week and more could ensue this week with the rules package vote on Monday night. Pictured: Rep. Richard Hudson pulls back Rep. Mike Rogers as he lunged toward Gaetz in continued votes for Speaker on Friday, January 6

Moderates who do not favor the way the new Congress is shaping up point to the fact that three of the first 12 bills will tighten abortion restrictions – and they were added to the floor schedule without first consulting with the middle of the Republican Conference.

One bill would create 'medical protections for babies that survive attempted abortions,' a second condemns attacks on pro-life groups.

It's all shaping up to be a very ideological start to the term with focus on social issues important to conservatives.