Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) scolded Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) during a contentious meeting about the House speaker battle on Thursday, a moment that underscores the tension between the two after the Florida Republican led the successful effort to oust McCarthy as speaker this month.

McCarthy yelled at Gaetz to sit down when he attempted to speak to the Republican conference, according to two sources in the meeting.

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McCarthy later appeared outside the meeting and told reporters, "I was speaking, and Matt Gaetz tried to interrupt. I told him, 'Sit down.'"

The speaker emeritus denied yelling at Gaetz but noted, "I think the entire conference screamed at him. Listen, I think the whole country would scream at Gaetz right now."

After McCarthy instructed Gaetz to sit down, Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL) joined in and raged at Gaetz. One of the sources in the room said Bost appeared to lunge at Gaetz but that he was across the room from him so it had little effect.

When asked how the meeting was going, Gaetz told reporters, "Like a Thanksgiving dinner."

"Who's the drunk uncle," one reporter asked.

"Mike Bost," Gaetz said.

Bost's office did not respond to a request for comment.

The dust-up between Bost and Gaetz is not the first time a member has lunged at Gaetz.

In the culminating moments of the speaker turmoil in January, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) also jumped toward Gaetz, and members moved to restrain him.

Thursday's tense moment comes as House Republicans remain unable to agree on a member to lead them as speaker. They can only afford four defectors because of their slim majority, but far more than that refused to support the party's first internal nominee, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), and nearly two dozen openly refuse to support their current nominee, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH).

Members unleashed a range of grievances before, during, and after the meeting about House leaders' plan to move forward.

The tentative plan, as it stands as of Thursday afternoon, involves Jordan remaining speaker-designate while supporting a resolution to expand Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry's (R-NC) authority temporarily until January, when Jordan would revisit holding a full House vote to solidify his speakership.

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Many of the roughly two dozen members who openly oppose Jordan's speaker bid have shown support for temporarily establishing more authority for McHenry, citing an urgent need to pass legislation to address the looming government shutdown next month and the need to supply aid to Israel during its war with the terrorist group Hamas.

Others vehemently oppose that plan, signaling the House will remain in its state of upheaval until Republicans can reach an agreement.