House votes for fourth time as Republicans fight over

Fourth vote begins…

Martin Pengelly

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.”

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

Martin Pengelly

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.

Martin Pengelly

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.

House reconvenes

Martin Pengelly

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:

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. ”

Martin Pengelly

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.

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:

How many times can the House vote for speaker?

Martin Pengelly

… 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 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.

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.

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!