Debt limit didn’t breach the majority of the majority requirement.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy bears a distinct chip on his shoulder, often suggesting that his political capabilities have been minimized by the media and his opponents. After suffering 15 rounds of votes to earn his gavel, his brief tenure has been characterized by a dogged persistence when pursuing his political goals. But the House passing the debt ceiling deal he and President Joe Biden crafted strengthened his position, his supporters say, even as some within his own party have threatened to move to unseat him.

The debt ceiling bill overwhelmingly passed the House on a bipartisan basis Wednesday night, with a 314–117 vote, earning support from 149 Republicans and 165 Democrats. Conservative critics may argue that more Democrats than Republicans supporting the bill shows it was a concession to Biden and congressional Democrats, but McCarthy has maintained a relatively firm grip on his conference throughout a trying process. And the speaker achieved the key “majority of the majority” in the vote—that is, most of the Republican conference supported it.

In a press conference Wednesday evening, McCarthy enjoyed a rhetorical victory lap. He chided the reporters in the room, recalling how they would mob him after the various speaker votes in January. “Every question you gave me: ‘What could we survive, what could we even do?’ I told you then, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” McCarthy said.