House Speaker Kevin McCarthy seemed to have broken the impasse that had been created last week by some conservative members of his own caucus.

McCarthy met in his office with nearly a dozen legislators in an attempt to quell the revolt and re-establish various priorities which had been stalled during last week’s GOP fights. McCarthy called the meeting productive, saying that “everyone was asking ‘How can we work together’?” McCarthy promised to continue meetings with holdouts from last week and focus on cutting federal spending.

He told reporters, “We have a lot of victories we want to fight to get for the American people. But we can only achieve this if we stick to each other.”

Fewer than a dozen Republicans – mainly House Freedom Caucus members – shut down House business last week in protest at McCarthy’s leadership. The votes on two bills that were important to GOP activists and favored gas stoves could not be held. McCarthy’s compromise with President Joe Biden to suspend the debt ceiling was the source of their anger. They felt that it did not cut spending enough.

McCarthy said he was confident that the House would consider these bills this week. However, he acknowledged he may face similar obstacles in future when members of his party object to routine procedural votes which prevent the House from addressing various GOP priorities. The procedural rule vote last week was the first in almost two decades to fail.

Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) warned that he might be back next week as he left the meeting with McCarthy.

“Each day brings a new challenge.” McCarthy, who faces a potential threat on his right flank, said: “I just get up every day and pray for Job’s patience and find a way to move forward.”

Gaetz stated that McCarthy had agreed to look further at the spending on federal boards, commissions, and other entities to see if they could be reduced to save money.

Matt Rosendale (R-Mont) said that the holdouts were most concerned about McCarthy’s leadership team and their progress on spending priorities each week. “The floor will be stopped, the functions will cease,” he warned.