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The US House of Representatives on Friday entered its fourth day of voting to elect a new speaker, marking the grim two-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The U.S. House adjourned without a speaker for the third night in a row on Thursday — the longest absence of a chamber leader in a century — after GOP leader Kevin McCarthy He lost the 11th vote and scrambled to strike a deal with 20 far-right Republicans.
As of Friday morning, McCarthy had no clear path to victory.
According to NBC News, GOP leaders have scheduled a 10:15 a.m. ET conference call with rank-and-file members to brief them on the deal McCarthy is negotiating behind the scenes. This would give some of the party’s most conservative members more power in key committees and him. The council will reconvene at noon.
Support for McCarthy fell from 203 votes on Tuesday in the first three days to 200 in the 11th on Thursday, far short of the 218 votes he needed to win the speakership. With 222 Republicans in the House, he can only lose by four votes.
Ahead of Thursday’s final vote, 20 Republicans opposed to McCarthy’s speakership offered McCarthy replacements: Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla.. got 12 votes; Rep. Kevin Hearn, R-Okla., received seven votes; and former president Donald TrumpHis longtime ally, Florida GOP Rep. Moved by Matt Gaetz, got one vote from Gaetz.
All 212 Democrats unanimously supported House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferys on every vote.
