Still without a 'speaker', US Congress remains paralysed

House representative Kevin McCarthy on the third day of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on January 5, 2023. © Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters

For a long and frustrating third day, divided Republicans kept the speaker’s chair of the US House sitting empty Thursday, as party leader Kevin McCarthy failed again and again in an excruciating string of ballots to win enough GOP votes to seize the chamber’s gavel.

For a long and frustrating third day, divided Republicans kept the speaker’s chair of the US House sitting empty Thursday, as party leader Kevin McCarthy failed again and again in an excruciating string of ballots to win enough GOP votes to seize the chamber’s gavel.