SALT LAKE CITY — As the race for U.S. House speaker dragged into a fourth day Friday, one Utah congressman fears the continued chaos will set the tone for the new Congress.

"What's really most discouraging to me about the last couple of days is it is an indication how the next two years will likely go and the dysfunction that might be extended for two years," Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, said in a video before the House started voting Thursday.

"And no doubt if that happens, the American people will not look at that kindly."

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., failed to secure the 218 votes to become speaker in repeated rounds of voting over the past fours days in what has now become the longest contest in 164 years.

Curtis said it's "super frustrating" and embarrassing to see the unity of the Democrats on the House floor and the "momentum in our dysfunction." Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was able to win the speakership in one vote and deliver everything on her agenda over the next two years, he said.

Late Friday, McCarthy had managed to flip enough votes to finally win the speakership on the 15th ballot.

Despite his frustration this week, Curtis said the longer-than-expected debate brought House Republicans closer together. Now, he said, it's their responsibility to fulfill the mandate of the people and govern effectively.

"I will focus on advancing Utah's values of fiscal responsibility, national security, and a strong economy for the benefit of all Americans," Curtis said in a statement. "The next two years may be challenging, but I am determined to contribute to positive change in our country."

Earlier, both Curtis and Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, blasted the 20 conservative Republicans blocking McCarthy's path to the job.

"As this drags on it's becoming clear that the small group of dissenters aren't doing this for the good of the country. They're doing it for themselves. They've been given virtually everything they've ask for. It's nothing more than unserious lawmakers holding up serious work," Stewart tweeted.

Stewart told CNN on Thursday that he's still confident McCarthy will be elected speaker but worries he might have made too many concessions to the holdouts.

"I do believe we're at the point now where we would so weaken the leadership, if we were to concede any more, that it would be in a very difficult leadership position anyway, it would make it nearly impossible for them to lead, which is why I think people on both sides recognize we're probably at that point," he said.

Talks are continuing among Republicans after negotiations aimed at winning over McCarthy opponents picked up steam on Thursday. Key House GOP negotiators said they were moving closer to an agreement that would get McCarthy to the votes he needs, CNN reported Friday.

But there was no deal as the House went into session Friday.

In his video, Curtis said McCarthy's concessions were "large and significant" as well as important to Utah.

Among the agreements is that bills would be limited to one subject, nothing could be added to them unless it's germane, he said. Another would preclude Republicans from voting for omnibus spending bills and putting all sorts of other items in them.

Curtis said even though the dissenters made some important points, they still aren't getting behind McCarthy.

"The problem is once they've achieved these commitments and these promises and these rule changes, they're still not willing to vote for Kevin and it gives some the feeling that they'll just move the goalposts and never really intended to be good players in this," he said.

The group, Curtis said, has "proven that they're willing to burn the place down to what they want." Other Republicans also have strong feelings about what they might want out of a deal but are not willing to go that far.

Some of the holdouts don't have good intentions, he said.

"They're just simply angry — at Kevin, angry at the world, angry at politics, angry at Washington" and won't vote for McCarthy no matter what he offers, Curtis said.

Utah GOP Reps. Blake Moore and Burgess Owens also remain in McCarthy's corner.

Related:

McCarthy fails on 12th vote but makes major progress in House speaker bid

Republican Kevin McCarthy gained 14 GOP votes for House speaker, failing a 12th time but making major progress in his quest for the gavel.

"I proudly support Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House. He's a strong conservative that led @HouseGOP into the majority and unified our conference behind a bold agenda that brings commonsense solutions back to the People's House," Owens tweeted earlier this week.

Moore expressed his support for McCarthy during an appearance on CNN earlier this week.

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