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From what I'm piecing together from the coverage, this is really hinging on the demand that a single member be allowed to motion to vacate the Speaker's chair. McCarthy seems to be clinging to the minimum of five members to call a vacate vote.

McCarthy supporters are calling this demand tyranny. They are saying that it gives any single member the power to throw the chamber into chaos.

Conservatives like Byron Donalds argues that this was the rule for a hundred years before Pelosi removed it when she took over after John Boehner was removed via the vacate motion. Donalds asks "why do we want to continue operating under Pelosi's rules?"

Donalds also says that the rule was only used twice when it was in place, so why should a Speaker who is effectively working within his caucus worry about that rule? He also argues that it is the right of each member of the House to question the ability of the Speaker to continue to lead.

So there we are. I think this is the hill that McCarthy is willing to die on, the Motion to Vacate the Chair. He's afraid of his caucus, and he doesn't want them to have the power to call for his removal if he reverts to establishment norms after winning.

-PJ