Congressman Kevin McCarthy came up short in the first round of voting to elect a new leader of the House of Representatives, with five other Republicans not named McCarthy getting enough votes to deprive him of the speaker’s gavel on the first day of the 118th Congress.

In a House where Republicans control 222 seats, Mr. McCarthy received 203 votes. Congressman Andy Biggs received 10 votes, Congressman Jim Jordan received six, and Congressmen Jim Banks, Lee Zeldin, and Bryon Donalds received one each.

Congressman Hakeem Jefferies, the Democratic leader also vying for the speaker role even though his party is in the minority, received the most votes of any single candidate, 212. One Democratic seat was empty, due to the death of Congressman Tony DeLuca.

Although the opposition to Mr. McCarthy’s leadership within the Republican Party was on the upper end of most estimates, his opponents remained stalwart in the second round of voting.

In the second ballot, Mr. Jefferies maintained his 212 votes, Mr. McCarthy maintained his 203, and the opposition to Mr. McCarthy consolidated around Mr. Jordan, who received 19 votes.

Mr. Jordan, who nominated Mr. McCarthy in the second round and was attempting to whip votes for him in the first, appeared to have only inspired more support for himself in his speech promoting Mr. McCarthy.

Congressman Matt Gaetz, one of the most vocal opponents of Mr. McCarthy’s leadership, and his highest-profile opponent outside the House Freedom Caucus, called Mr. Jordan “humble to a fault,” as he nominated him for speaker.

Mr. Gaetz is one of five Republicans — just enough to deny the speakership — who have said they will not vote for Mr. McCarthy under any circumstances. He said on Tuesday that his position has not changed.

“Everything I heard hardened my resolve that this town desperately needs change and if it’s a few of us that who have to stand in the breach to force it we’re willing to do it for as long as it takes,” Mr. Gaetz told reporters.

As House members took to the floor for another round of negotiation, it appears that the pro- and anti-McCarthy camps of the Republican conference have settled into a staring contest aimed at getting the other side to flinch first.

The level of opposition to Mr. McCarthy came as a surprise to some. Many had speculated that his concessions might convince all but five of his most hardcore opponents to support him.

The House editor of the Cook Political Report, Dave Wasserman, quipped that the pace at which Republicans were voting against Mr. McCarthy was an ominous sign for the would-be speaker.

“No surprise that McCarthy is falling short, but a dozen GOP defections before we even got to the letter ‘M’ in the roll call is quite the surprise,” Mr. Wasserman said.

Other members of the commentariat are drawing connections between Mr. McCarthy’s failure to deliver a larger GOP majority and his ongoing battle to win the speakership.

“The chickens are really coming home to roost for the GOP and Kevin McCarthy,” the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, Larry Sabato, tweeted. “Just like last November.”

As it stands, there is no end in sight for the ordeal that the speakership election has become. Although the House cannot take up other business until a speaker is elected, it is able to adjourn for the day if it sets a date and time to reconvene.