Republican Kevin McCarthy is struggling to gather enough support to become speaker of the US House of Representatives — 15 more voted for him in the latest ballot.
But the extra support for Mr McCarthy still isn’t enough for him to succeed the outgoing Speaker, a Democrat nancy pelosi.
Members will therefore be asked to vote for a 14th time — and this time, between Mr McCarthy and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, without a Republican challenger taking their vote away.
Several Republicans walked out of the chamber on the fourth day of proceedings after colleague Matt Gaetz of Florida said: “We don’t trust Mr. McCarthy’s authority.”
After midterm elections in the fall, Republicans took control of the House of Representatives – the US House of Representatives – with a narrow majority of 222 votes to 212.
The election of a speaker is usually a formality, and the leader of the largest party in the House of Representatives is usually competent for the job.
However, the recent split republican party That resulted in the first defeat of a nominee in a century.
At least 200 Republicans backed Mr McCarthy on every other vote this week, enough to keep him from getting the 218 votes he needed, even though fewer than 10 percent of Republican politicians in the House voted against .
Read more: It’s hard not to see parallels between US Republicans and UK Tory chaos, writes Adam Bolton
speaker chair empty
The meeting to decide on the Speaker has been going on for hours – even as long as eight hours.
The impasse has raised questions about the GOP’s ability to govern for the next two years. But others said Mr. McCarthy, a survivor of one of the more brutal speaker’s gavel battles in American history, may be more emboldened.
His vote numbers appeared to shift after he privately agreed to demands from many of his critics — including reinstating a longstanding House rule that allows any member to vote to remove him.
That change and others mean the job he’s worked so hard for will be weakened.