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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Lois Beckett (now) and Maanvi Singh and Gloria Oladipo (earlier)

House without a speaker as McCarthy fails to secure majority in six rounds of voting – as it happened

Kevin McCarthy CNN Republican Party Steve Scalise Republican Manu Raju United States Deirdre Walsh Joe Biden Mitch McConnell
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy reacts during a vote to adjourn following a day of votes.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy reacts during a vote to adjourn following a day of votes. Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Evening Summary

Two days. Six votes. Still no Speaker of the House.

It’s been a bizarre “Groundhog Day” on Capitol Hill, where the House of Representatives, which has a new Republican majority, is still gridlocked on who should become the next Speaker of the House. No other business can proceed until one is appointed. As we wrap up our US politics coverage for tonight, here are the key events of today:

  • After another three rounds of voting on Wednesday, California congressman Kevin McCarthy still does not have enough votes to be elected speaker, with 20 Republican holdouts, including a number of far-right Republican “rebels”, blocking the former GOP leader from assuming the leadership of Republicans’ new majority.

  • McCarthy has lost a total six leadership votes over the past two days.

  • As Republicans continue to negotiate over who should become the next speaker, McCarthy supporters are still optimistic that they might be able to bring enough GOP members around with political concessions to elect him tomorrow.

  • Meanwhile, some Republicans are eyeing an alternate candidate, including number two House Republican leader Steve Scalise, who survived a mass shooting attack on congressional Republicans in 2017.

  • Congressional Democrats, who lost the House majority in the 2022 midterm elections, are savoring the Republican chaos.

  • At 8pm ET, House Republicans narrowly succeeded in voting to adjourn the House until noon on Thursday, to give McCarthy and his allies more time to negotiate a deal before a seventh vote. Democrats almost succeeded in blocking this vote.

Updated

Democrats, now the minority in the House, are ‘literally eating popcorn’ as GOP flails

Democrats lost the majority in the 2022 midterm elections. But the new Republican House majority is so divided that a vote on who should become the speaker of the House has led to multiple days of gridlock and failure for California congressman Kevin McCarthy, who led House Republicans when they were in the minority, and expected to be voted in as speaker.

No normal business can begin in the House until the body has elected a speaker.

How are Democrats feeling? “They love this. They’re literally eating popcorn,” CNN’s Anderson Cooper said.

And Democratic members of Congress also stayed “super united” tonight, almost succeeding in their effort to block House Republicans from adjourning tonight before holding another vote.

Updated

It’s ‘Groundhog Day’ at the Capitol. And it may be Groundhog Day again tomorrow

It’s been a weird day on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers finally sent themselves home after 8pm, after a second day of multiple failed votes for Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the house.

NPR’s Deirdre Walsh dubbed it “Groundhog Day – congressional version”.

Walsh noted that the standoff had turned the minutiae of congressional procedure into breaking news covered live on cable news.

Updated

Will McCarthy rally after two days of failure or will the GOP move on to Scalise?

Some Republicans are ready to move forward and take a vote on electing Steve Scalise, the current number two GOP House leader, as speaker of the house, CNN’s Jamie Gangel reported ahead of the House’s vote to adjourn for tonight.

Scalise, who was shot and seriously injured in a 2017 mass shooting that targeted congressional Republicans during a baseball practice outside Washington DC, is seen by some Republicans as a heroic figure for his demeanor in the wake of the shooting, which did not sway him or other Republicans away from their pro-gun, anti-gun control stances.

After years in which the death toll from rightwing political violence has far outpaced the toll from leftwing violence, some congressional Republicans see value in having a leader who personally survived a politically motivated attack that targeted Republican lawmakers.

“They want to be able to have that argument that the extremism is on both sides,” CNN’s Abby Phillip said.

But McCarthy supporters are feeling more optimistic that the next hours before the house adjourns at noon on Thursday might be enough to secure a deal which could result in a victory for McCarthy, congressional reporters said.

Updated

‘Glimmers of hope’ for McCarthy as speaker as House adjourns for more negotiation

As House Republicans have voted to adjourn for tonight, giving them more time to negotiate over their next vote for the new speaker of the house, CNN’s Melanie Zanona said that Kevin McCarthy supporters see some “glimmers of hope” that, despite his failure in six previous votes, the California congressman might succeed in winning the leadership role.

Other Hill reporters saw “good signs for McCarthy”.

Updated

After six votes over two days, the House pushes off new speaker vote until Thursday

In a vote that ended in shouts and confusion, with an CNN anchor asking, “Is this normal?” House Republicans narrowly succeeded in adjourning the House until noon on Thursday, delaying a seventh vote on electing the speaker of the House.

The vote was 216-214.

CNN’s Jake Tapper reported that there are rumors that Steve Scalise, the Louisiana congressman who previously served as the number two House Republican leader, may soon be tapped for a vote to serve as speaker and that the move to adjourn tonight could be designed to squash that effort to move on to a vote for Scalise rather than McCarthy.

Updated

With clock ticking down, GOP voting to adjourn, Dems voting to vote again

With less than five minutes left of voting, nearly all Republican House members have been voting to adjourn for the night, while all Democrats have been voting “no”, with the goal of having another vote tonight in which Kevin McCarthy will once again lose the vote for speaker. Another vote tonight would be the fourth failed vote for McCarthy as speaker today and the seventh overall.

Updated

The House is now voting on whether to adjourn again until noon tomorrow to leave more time for negotiations among House Republicans on their pick for speaker.

Republicans are being advised to vote in favor of adjourning.

This is Lois Beckett picking up our live US politics coverage from Los Angeles.

Minutes ahead of the House’s expected return for another evening leadership vote, CNN is reporting that Kevin McCarthy is hoping to get a majority of votes to adjourn again tonight, leaving more time for negotiations before the morning.

“If the vote were to happen tonight, he would almost certainly fail again,” CNN’s Manu Raju reports.

Raju said Democrats were expected to vote against adjourning before another vote tonight.

Updated

Here’s an update from McCarthy, nabbed by CNN’s Manu Raju:

The McCarthy-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) and the Club for Growth – which hasn’t supported McCarthy so far – have apparently reached an agreement. The two groups issued a joint statement backing McCarthy.

The CLF agreed not to spend in any safe Republican districts or engage in open GOP primaries for or against any Republican opponent. This was something Club for Growth, an influential conservative organization, had been pushing for. Rightwing Republicans opposed to McCarthy have been complaining that the CLF had unduly meddled in open seat primaries and worked against conservative candidates.

Updated

Biden appeared in Kentucky with McConnell

While Congress remained in disarray today, Joe Biden made an appearance in Kentucky alongside Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell to tout a $1.6bn (£1.3bn) bridge borne out of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.

Biden visited Kentucky to promote the bipartisan infrastructure law and was joined by Mitch McConnell.
Biden visited Kentucky to promote the bipartisan infrastructure law and was joined by Mitch McConnell. Photograph: Kyle Mazza/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

“I believe it sends an important message to the entire country,” Biden said, overlooking the bridge in Covington. “We can work together. We can get things done. We can move the nation forward, but just drop a little bit of our egos and focus on what is needed in the country.”

McConnell echoed: “We all know these are really partisan times. But I always feel that no matter who gets elected, once it’s all over, we ought to look for things that we can agree on and try to do those, even while we have big differences on other things.”

The two leaders rarely appear together. The event marked a stark contrast to the chaos in Congress. “To have a Congress that can’t function is just embarrassing,” Biden said.

Updated

Kevin McCarthy’s chances are still looking grim.

After meeting with him, far-right detractors remained determined to vote against him. Per CNN’s Annie Grayer, rightwing congressman Matt Gaetz said he’s prepared to keep voting “all month” against McCarthy.

And Lauren Boebert told CNN: “We need to get to a person that is a consensus candidate. And these folks need to realize that there is life after Kevin and they have to figure out how to get there.”

Updated

Jill Biden was found to have a small lesion above her eye, the physician to the president said in a memo shared by the first lady’s press secretary.

The lesion was found during a routine skin cancer screening and Biden will have a procedure to have it removed and examined.

Updated

Catch up on the day so far

The House remained paralyzed on Wednesday, after Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed for the sixth time to capture the speaker’s gavel as his critics stood firm in their opposition to his candidacy. After the House adjourned for a few hours, McCarthy and his allies went into negotiations with the Republican holdouts without a clear path forward to end the standoff.

Here’s a recap:

Punchbowl News’ Andrew Desiderio spotted McCarthy heading into a meeting with his detractors.

Earlier, he told CNN’s Manu Raju that McCarthy still thinks he can win. “We will get 218, will solve our problems and we will all work together,” he reportedly said.

Updated

House is adjourning until 8pm ET

This will give members about three and a half hours to hash things out. McCarthy could try to make deals with Republican holdouts – or bow out.

In three rounds of voting today, the results have been exactly the same: Hakeem Jeffries 212, Kevin McCarthy 201, Byron Donalds 20, present 1.

No House speaker after sixth round of voting

Hi there, it’s Maanvi Singh, reporting from the West Coast.

After Kevin McCarthy failed to get support after a sixth round of voting, CNN’s Manu Raju reports that Republicans are looking to regroup:

Updated

The roll call continues with 13 votes for Donalds.

Here’s a quote from Republican representative Steve Womack on what the House speaker election is like:

It is expected that House members will be adjourning after the sixth round of voting if they are unable to elect a House speaker.

From CNN’s Manu Raju:

Once again, it appears that McCarthy has lost the sixth round of votes for House speaker.

7 representatives have voted for Donalds as roll count continues.

Perry has called for Republicans to nominate “the first Black Republican speaker of the House,” receiving some applause from McCarthy opposers.

Frustration was growing in the chamber given Perry’s longer speech, with California representative Anna Eshoo shouting at one point, “Who are you nominating?” during Perry’s remarks.

Updated

Jeffries received another nomination in a short speech from California representative Pete Aguilar. Aguilar noted that Jeffries has received the most votes in the five rounds of voting that have happened so far, with other Democrats applauding him.

Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania has nominated Donalds, giving a speech about Washington being “broken”.

“I think the person that has done the most to make this fabulous…Republican majority is Speaker Pelosi,” said Perry during his speech.

The House broke into jeers and cross talk after Cammack claimed that Democrats have been enjoying the dysfunction amid Republicans, accusing Democrats of having “popcorn, blankets, and alcohol” during the proceedings.

The clerk had to gavel several times to reestablish decorum.

From Daily Beast reporter Ursula Perano:

Kevin McCarthy loses fifth round of voting on House speaker

The official roll call is in: Kevin McCarthy has officially lost his fifth round of voting.

Another nomination has come through to nominate McCarthy for the position from Florida representative Kat Cammack.

Updated

We’re still waiting on the official count of votes for House Speaker, but it appears that McCarthy has lost a fifth round of voting.

There’s mixed messaging from Republicans on if McCarthy should withdraw from the House speaker process and allow someone else to be the nominee.

While McCarthy opponents like Boebert have called for McCarthy to step down, Donalds told reporters that Republicans aren’t “at that point”, adding that GOP members want to have a serious discussion about the next House speaker.

From ABC News’ Rachel Scott:

Vote tally for House speaker appears to be unchanged as official votes are being recounted now.

Spartz voted present again.

Ken Buck has officially cast his vote for McCarthy, after telling several reporters that McCarthy should step aside if he can’t secure the votes.

Updated

We’re currently at 19 votes for Donalds, as those opposed to him as House Speaker remain unchanged.

A number of members have also been absent during roll call, including Nancy Pelosi.

We’re currently at 15 no votes for McCarthy, with representative Ken Buck warning that representatives are “worn down” and in conflict about the fifth round of voting.

Updated

So far, seven votes against McCarthy have been cast.

It appears that McCarthy may have lost another ballot, as five no votes prevent his election if all representatives are present.

Updated

As roll call continues, representative Ken Buck told reporters that McCarthy would have to “step aside” at some point and let Minority whip Steve Scalise run, if McCarthy cannot win the vote.

So far, four votes for Donalds have been cast by the usual McCarthy opposers.

It’s unclear how many of the original 20 no votes can be flipped--or if more representatives outside of the 20 will vote “present'” and lower the Speaker vote threshold.

Fifth round of voting begins

Here we go again!

Roll call has just started for the fifth time.

Updated

Colorado representative Lauren Boebert has nominated Byron Donalds for the fifth ballot.

During her remarks, Boebert called on Trump to tell McCarthy that he does not have the votes for the speakership and to withdraw. She was met with a chorus of boos.

In a quick speech, Hakeem Jeffries has again been nominated by Democrats to be the House speaker.

His nomination was met with applause from completely united Democrats.

McCarthy nominated for House Speaker position, again

Ohio representative Warren Davis has nominated McCarthy – for the fifth time – to the House speaker position.

Davis is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, as are a number of McCarthy opposers.

Updated

No House speaker elected, once again

The official vote tally has just been read.

As predicted, a House speaker has not been elected.

McCarthy’s, Jeffries’, and Donald’s tally readouts have received applause from House members.

Here’s a helpful breakdown of the vote tally from the New York Times:

Updated

McCarthy opposers and supports are on social media to voice their opinion on the fourth round of voting.

From Representative Andy Biggs, who cast the first vote against McCarthy’s election:

Meanwhile, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has condemned the McCarthy opposition, tweeting that the group doesn’t have a plan as they are on their third speaker candidate.

Taylor previously tweeted a screenshot of Trump’s endorsement of McCarthy, writing: “Let’s Go! We have work to do!!”

Updated

Now, onto the business of whether there will be a fifth round of voting today or an adjournment for the House.

Representative Tom Emmer, who is apart of House Republican leadership, told reporters that there are discussions happening now on a fifth vote and that it has not been decided.

From CNN corespondent Manu Raju:

McCarthy falls short of House speaker vote

Voting has just ended. McCarthy has lost his bid for House speaker, once again, though an official vote announcement is still needed.

With no majority earned on either side, a fifth round of voting may take place.

With dissent ripe on the Republican side, Hakeem Jeffries has secured all 212 votes from Democrats, versus McCarthy’s 201.

McCarthy lost a vote, with Spartz voting present during the fourth round.

Updated

Members who did not answer during the first roll call are now being called.

Indiana representative Victoria Spartz has voted present during the House Speaker election.

George Santos, who left the House chamber after casting his vote in today’s roll call, voted for McCarthy.

From CBS News’ Scott MacFarlane:

So far, we’re at 20 no votes for McCarthy as roll call continues.

McCarthy has officially failed to convince any of the 20 Republican holdouts to support his nomination.

California representative Nancy Pelosi received applause as she cast her ballot for Jeffries, who will be her successor after her final term as House speaker.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, in dark green dress, prepares to speak about House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy's bid to be the next speaker in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, USA.
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi prepares to speak about House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy's bid to be the next speaker in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, USA. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Updated

We’re currently at 14 no votes for McCarthy.

But a majority of Republicans are giving McCarthy their support, with McCarthy’s vote for himself met with applause.

Jeffries also received applause as he voted for himself.

Jim Jordan is reportedly having an exchange with Maryland representative Andy Harris, as roll call on McCarthy’s election bid continues.

Jordan was previously floated as a possible nominee challenger to McCarthy.

From Washington Times reporter Mica Soellner:

McCarthy is now at 12 no votes, unable to convince more than half of his 20 original opposers to vote for him.

Though, no new votes against McCarthy have emerged and more votes still need to be counted.

From Politico reporter Olivia Beavers:

With roll calls happening now for McCarthy’s bid to become House speaker, McCarthy is once again short on votes with a number of far-right Republicans voting for Florida representative Byron Donalds as their top choice.

A fifth round will now be required for Republicans to elect their pick for House speaker.

So far, nine ballots have come in for Donalds, as opponents of McCarthy have applauded several times at each dissenting vote.

It seems that McCarthy has not managed to move a single vote to his side, with separate endorsements from Trump and Pence doing little to ensure his election.

McCarthy short on votes for House speaker during fourth ballot

McCarthy, once again, does not have enough votes to become House speaker.

More updates soon!

Fourth vote begins…

Pete Aguilar of California rises to nominate for speaker Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the new Democratic leader in the House.

There is a new email from the Democratic whip, meanwhile, advising members of what we all know by now: “If the speaker is elected and receives the oath of office, they will administer the oath to members and delegates. If no candidate receives 218 votes, the House will continue voting until a speaker is elected or the House agrees to adjourn.”

A Democratic email.
A Democratic email. Photograph: Katherine Clark

And then comes Chip Roy of Texas, one of the leaders of the rebel Republicans, who nominates Byron Donalds of Florida for speaker.

Donalds is the Republican who switched his vote yesterday, in the third vote, to back Jim Jordan of Ohio instead of Kevin McCarthy.

Roy notes that this is the first time two Black Americans have been placed into nomination for speaker (Jeffries being the first Black party leader in Congress). Then he talks for quite a long time about why he is leading opposition to McCarthy. As per yesterday, Roy appeals to the spirit of the American people, to democracy, and so forth.

The reading clerk will call the role. So here goes…

Republicans set up fourth vote

Kevin McCarthy, wearing a dark suit and a muted tie, is on the floor and has been talking with members of his caucus including Tom Cole, a veteran from Oklahoma.

Here we go for a fourth vote, with the nomination of McCarthy for speaker of the House and a round of applause from his loyalists.

Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, nominating McCarthy, glories in the undoubted fact that “democracy is messy” and “the American people are in charge”. Republicans stand to applaud that line.

Chip Roy of Texas, a rebel ringleader, listens intently nearby.

Updated

Elise Stefanik of New York, a member of Republican leadership, begins by making a point of order, that a quorum – sufficient attendance for a vote – is not present.

And so a count begins, to see if at least 218 members are present, the total Kevin McCarthy needs to become speaker. Discussion groups form, the C-SPAN cameras showing Democrats and Republicans clustering and chatting around the ornate chamber.

The chair counts 351 members, Cheryl Johnson, the House clerk, says – so that’s enough to begin with.

Updated

House reconvenes

The House chamber has reconvened, the gavel struck. The daily prayer is being offered.

Before members filed back into the chamber, Kevin McCarthy voiced confidence that he will ultimately win the 218 votes needed to capture the gavel.

“I think we’ll find our way to get there,” McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday. “This is a healthy debate. It might not happen on the day we want it, but it’s going to happen.”

Maybe, but it could certainly take a while.

There is reporting out there that Republicans could try to vote to adjourn immediately today, thus delaying a fourth vote on the speakership.

The Democratic whip, Katherine Clark, has told her party to vote no if an adjournment is sought:

An email from the Democratic whip.
An email from the Democratic whip. Photograph: Email

Earlier, Pete Aguilar, a senior member of Democratic leadership, indicated his party wants to get things done.

“We don’t have status as members until we organize,” the Californian told reporters, “and that’s unfortunately as a result of this Republican chaos. There will come a point where other things are impacted: committees can’t hire their staff members, as well, because there are no committee chairs and ranking members.

“This is this is a crisis of the Congress and it’s a crisis at the hands of the Republican dysfunction. ”

Updated

As the resumption of events on the House floor approaches – it’s set for 12pm ET – it seems worth a look at how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has explained why she was seen talking on the floor yesterday with the far-right Republicans Matt Gaetz and Paul Gosar, the latter once censured for tweeting video depicting him slashing her in the neck with a sword.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Gosar, from Arizona, was among 20 Republicans opposing Kevin McCarthy’s bid for speaker. So was Gaetz of Florida, a ringleader of the anti-McCarthy rebels.

Ocasio-Cortez told the Intercept her conversation with Gaetz was a “fact-check”.

“McCarthy was suggesting he could get Dems to walk away to lower his threshold,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And I fact-checked and said absolutely not.”

Ocasio-Cortez said she discussed adjournment strategy with Gosar.

“Some of us in the House of Representatives are independent in certain ways from our party,” she told MSNBC. “And … these machinations are happening on the floor.

“And sometimes the leadership of your party, in this case, the Republican party, will be making claims in order to try to twist arms and get people in line. And a lot of times, information and truth is currency.

“So sometimes to be able to fact-check some of the claims that McCarthy is making, whether Democrats are going to defect or not, etc, is important in order to keep him honest and to keep people honest in general.”

Full story:

Updated

How many times can the House vote for speaker?

… is a question many people are asking today, as the resumption of formalities (and hostilities) in the House approaches.

The short answer: as many times as it takes for a candidate to gain a simple majority.

The slightly longer answer … follows, from a Q&A about the whole sorry situation we have launched today:

The last time the House did not elect a speaker on the first ballot was 1923, when the election stretched for nine votes.

Republicans had the majority, over Democrats by 18 seats. The GOP named Frederick Gillett of Massachusetts to the position but several other candidates, including a Democrat, received votes during roll call.

This resulted in a series of ballots over three days before the majority leader, Nicholas Longworth of Ohio, held an emergency meeting with those opposing. Their concern, similarly to those issued against Kevin McCarthy of California this year, was over rules changes they believed deserved a fair hearing. Longworth obliged. The next day, Gillett got the 215 votes he needed.

There is also the example of 1855-56, in the years of division over slavery that preceded the civil war. Then, with the Republican party newly emerged as an anti-slavery force, it took 133 ballots over nearly two months to elect a speaker. Eventually, Nathaniel Banks of Massachusetts – a nativist Know-Nothing, no less – got the job.

Here’s the full explainer:

Mike Pence endorses McCarthy

Mike Pence has publicly supported McCarthy as House Speaker, with the House set to meet for a vote in less than an hour.

Calling McCarthy his “friend”, Pence urged GOP members via Twitter to support McCarthy and lead the House to bring about a “Great American Comeback”.

It appears Pence and Trump are on the same page, attempting to sway the coalition of 20 Republicans who remain staunchly opposed to McCarthy’s election.

US Capitol police officer Michael Fanone, who testified to the January 6 committee, visited McCarthy’s office today to highlight McCarthy’s failure to secure his House speaker vote.

While posing outside of McCarthy’s office, Fanone said he visited McCarthy to “rub it in”, referring to McCarthy’s election failure.

“I heard he was having some trouble … I just came here to rub it in,” Fanone told reporters.

Updated

Meanwhile, Democrats are celebrating the expected election of Hakeem Jeffries, who will be the first Black lawmaker to lead any political party.

Democrats have been united on Jeffries, amid Republicans failure to secure their own leader.

From US Representative-elect Katherine Clark of Massachusetts:

In a brief interview on Wednesday, Donald Trump reiterated his support for McCarthy and encouraged GOP members to “make a deal” to secure McCarthy’s election.

While speaking with Punchbowl News, Trump said that McCarthy opponents needed to work with McCarthy and elect him as Speaker, adding that he has been trying to corral much needed votes for McCarthy ahead of today’s scheduled House speaker vote.

From Trump:

I think that it’s time now to make a deal to get down to work and they have a lot of work to do. We had a great victory…. And I think that it’s time now for the Republicans to get on with it.

Updated

Biden: House speaker debacle 'embarrassing', 'not a good look'

Joe Biden has commented on the House speaker chaos, calling the failure of Republicans to choose a speaker “not a good look” for the country.

While leaving the White House to Kentucky for his speech on the infrastructure bill, Biden told reporters that the failure of Republicans to elect a House speaker is “embarrassing”, stating that the debacle is “not his problem”.

“I hope they get their act together,” said Biden.

Updated

Mitch McConnell has remained relatively quiet on the lack of a Republican House speaker, telling reporters yesterday after the first failed vote that he was “pulling” for Kevin McCarthy.

Following his own re-election as Senate minority leader, McConnell was traveling on Wednesday to his home state, Kentucky, to join Joe Biden for a bipartisan touting of the infrastructure bill.

Updated

Senate Republican leadership have expressed their concern over the House speaker debacle as the 12pm voice vote looms.

West Virginia senator Shelley Moore Capito called the Speaker proceedings a “circular fire squad,” adding to Politico that she is glad to no longer be a House member:

The unsteadiness I see over there [in the House] concerns me. We get the majority, and then we start a circular firing squad…

I just hope they can overcome the dysfunction,” she added of her former House colleagues…And also, I’m very glad I’m not back in the House.

Read the full article here.

Late Tuesday, opponents and supporters of McCarthy met for hours, reported Politico, in an attempt to figure out a path towards electing a House speaker.

The meeting adjourned with limited progress, with a subsequent meeting scheduled ahead of today’s 12pm vote cancelled.

From Politico reporter Sarah Ferris:

From Hill reporter Mychael Schnell, with comments from House member Chip Roy:

Trump did not communicate with some House members who opposed McCarthy before posting his endorsement.

From Washington Examiner reporter Juliegrace Brufke:

From Politico reporter Olivia Beavers:

Even with Trump’s public support of McCarthy, opponents of the House Speaker nominee do not seem swayed by the endorsement.

Several have taken to social media to share their disapproval, accusing the McCarthy of “squatting” in the Speaker office after losing the vote multiple times.

Late Tuesday, Florida representative Matt Gaetz shared a letter he wrote to the Architect of the Capitol, with Gaetz accusing McCarthy of occupying the Speaker of the House office despite losing the vote several times.

Gaetz’ letter was retweeted by Arizona representative Andy Biggs, who also voted against McCarthy’s selection and accused McCarthy of “squatting” in said office.

Updated

Trump backs McCarthy: 'Vote for Kevin, close the deal'

Good morning, Guardian readers!

Yesterday, Kevin McCarthy failed to secure enough votes to be the GOP House speaker, the first time in 100 years where a nominee hasn’t won enough votes during the first ballot.

But, to push back against his mostly hard-right opponents, McCarthy has touted Donald Trump’s support of his House speakership, with the former president publicly backing McCarthy’s leadership.

In what has been called “the most humiliating day of his political career”, McCarthy faces an uphill battle to secure enough votes, as the House is set to reconvene for a voice vote at 12pm ET.

Twenty House members blocked McCarthy’s election, the majority being far-right members who also denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election, reported the New York Times.

But McCarthy has been quick to confirm that he has the support of Trump, telling reporters late Tuesday that Trump “wants to see the Republicans united to be able to accomplish the exact things we said we’d do”, and adding that he has no plans to drop out.

Meanwhile, Trump also rallied for McCarthy on social media, posting on his Truth Social account:

Some really good conversations took place last night, and it’s now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY, & WATCH CRAZY NANCY PELOSI FLY BACK HOME TO A VERY BROKEN CALIFORNIA,THE ONLY SPEAKER IN U.S. HISTORY TO HAVE LOST THE “HOUSE” TWICE! REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT. IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT. Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB - JUST WATCH!

We will be bringing you the latest updates surrounding McCarthy’s bid and Republican reaction, so stay tuned!

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