After the House took four days to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as its speaker in January, several lawmakers wondered aloud whether the dragged-out election would be a foreshadowing of his leadership: disagreements within the GOP stalling any action on the floor.

Flash-forward six months later, and senior Capitol Hill staffers on both sides of the aisle are beginning to sing a different tune — conceding they may have underestimated McCarthy’s hold over the GOP caucus at the beginning of his speakership. About 85% of both Republican and Democratic senior staffers in the House say McCarthy is more effective than they initially predicted, according to a recent Canvass Capitol Hill poll.

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A majority of that sentiment came from the GOP caucus, with 97% of Republican staffers admitting they underestimated McCarthy, the poll showed. A significant number of Democratic staffers, 73%, said the same, giving the Republican leader strong standing among both parties in the lower chamber.

The high levels of approval are a major shift from a similar poll in February that showed most senior staffers doubting McCarthy’s control over his own party, especially after he made a number of concessions to hard-line conservatives in exchange for their support. That uncertainty seemed to subside after McCarthy managed to broker a debt ceiling deal with President Joe Biden to avoid economic collapse.

The victory appeared to be short-lived after a group of hard-line conservatives revolted against GOP leadership to stall any action on the floor, citing frustrations with compromises included in the debt limit agreement. Most senior staffers, 78%, predicted the deal would weaken McCarthy’s standing among “the GOP’s most right-wing members,” according to the poll.

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However, McCarthy has expressed confidence in his continued influence, frequently accusing the media of underestimating his leadership.

“I think a lot of you were beginning to not underestimate us when we had such a good victory last week," McCarthy said last month in reference to the debt ceiling deal. "So I think [the revolt] kind of helps lower [expectations] again, so you'll underestimate us, so we'll have more victories. So, in the end, when I look back, this may be a very big positive thing."