Kevin McCarthy was defeated in the sixth round of voting to select a speaker on Wednesday. The House of Representatives has adjourned until 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday after being unable to elect a new speaker.
The House GOP majority has been at odds with a group of conservatives who oppose McCarthy. The struggle, which opened on the first day of the 118th Congress, has thrown the new House GOP majority into disarray and weakened the party's goals.
It's unclear whether McCarthy and his allies will be able to secure the votes - and the longer the fight goes on, the more vulnerable his speaker bid becomes.
The House won't be able to accomplish anything until this deadlock is over. McCarthy's political future is in serious trouble as Fellow republicans are starting to worry that, if the conflict lasts much longer, the House GOP leader may not be able to carry off his gamble for speaker. While McCarthy has strong support from the majority of the conference, some are not steadfast in their endorsement.
McCarthy can only afford to lose four Republican votes in order to get 222 seats in the upcoming Congress given that House Republicans hold 222 seats. His challenge is a small but tenacious group of extreme conservatives who have so far been successful in keeping him from getting the votes necessary to clinch the gavel.
The group has leveraged the Republican majority to wring concessions. McCarthy has already agreed to a number of their requirements, including making it easier to depose the sitting speaker, but his efforts have not been sufficient.
Following three rounds of voting on Tuesday, the House reconvened on Wednesday to continue voting. McCarthy has failed to secure the speakership each time.
The situation appeared to worsen for McCarthy as the vote count against his speaker ambition rose on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, according to two Republican sources with knowledge of the matter, McCarthy's backers were in a panic on Tuesday after ex-President Donald Trump gave a hesitant response to NBC News when asked about his support for McCarthy.
Despite a behind-the-scenes attempt by numerous McCarthy supporters to convince Trump to do so, the former president also declined to issue a statement on Monday reiterating his support for McCarthy, according to two sources.
One close McCarthy ally then began working behind the scenes to clean up the mess and pressed Trump to issue a statement clarifying his support. McCarthy and Trump then spoke on the phone, and McCarthy stated that Trump expressed his continued support for him. On Truth Social Wednesday morning, Trump issued a strong endorsement.
Although Trump's statement may not sway the most fervent McCarthy opponents, one source said McCarthy's supporters were concerned about appearing "weak" and losing support, so they felt it was critical to change the narrative.
