House speaker vote update: Kevin McCarthy vows to fight on despite humiliation as House adjourns amid chaotic scenes

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez knocked down accusations from Republican Representative Kat Cammack of Florida after she claimed Democrats were drinking during their vote to nominate a speaker of the House of Representatives.

Lauren Boebert has said she is fine with the chaos in the Repubican party over the vote to choose Kevin McCarthy as the House speaker because this meant the US government was not aiding Ukraine in its war efforts.

In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday, she said she was fine with it as the “government isn’t spending money sending it to Ukraine so the American taxpayers are certainly winning”.

Maroosha Muzaffar reports:

President Joe Biden on Wednesday decried House Republicans’ failure to elect a Speaker and begin regular business, telling reporters at the White House that the dysfunction reflects poorly on the United States.

Speaking just outside the White House residence before he departed aboard Marine One for an event in Kentucky, Mr Biden said the spectacle in the lower chamber is “embarrassing” because it is taking so long for the House to begin doing business.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been captured laughing while sitting behind her Republican opponent Matt Gaetz as he delivered an impassioned speech amid his campaign to resist Kevin McCarthy’s attempts to be elected House speaker.

Read more in this report:

After Kevin McCarthy failed to garner sufficient votes to secure the Speakership, fellow CNN presenter Dana Bash opined that Republicans had faced a similar dilemma when Newt Gingrich was forced out as speaker in 1998.

Tapper recalled how that turned out.

George Santos can add another false statement to the long list of fictions he has spun about his life.

The freshman New York congressman-elect was among the new class of lawmakers who arrived on Capitol Hill on Tuesday eager to be sworn in and commence their duties as elected representatives for their various districts.

But that didn’t happen.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday decried House Republicans’ failure to elect a Speaker and begin regular business, telling reporters at the White House that the dysfunction reflects poorly on the United States.

Speaking just outside the White House residence before he departed aboard Marine One for an event in Kentucky, Mr Biden said the spectacle in the lower chamber is “embarrassing” because it is taking so long for the House to begin doing business.

“It’s a little embarrassing it’s taking so long, and the way they are dealing with one another,” he said.

He added that the House’s failure to chose a speaker on the first day of the 118th Congress — the first time in a full century that no candidate has garnered support from a clear majority of members on the first roll call vote — was “not a good look” and “not a good thing”for the US.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

House lawmakers voted to adjourn for a second day Wednesday evening without selecting a speaker in a historic defeat for Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and a sign of the total lack of unity that has taken over his caucus.

The chamber had adjourned for several hours after three votes transpired throughout the afternoon and each failed to result in the election of a speaker. Conservative opponents of Mr McCarthy showed no signs of relenting in their effort to block his election to the role, while at the same time there was little evidence of any consensus candidate emerging to unify both sides.

The former minority leader’s allies continued an unrelenting barrage of attacks aimed at their conservative colleagues, but appeared no closer to winning any of them over. The House voted by an extremely narrow margin to adjourn until noon on Thursday, though it remains totally unclear if Mr McCarthy will make any progress towards the 218-vote threshold needed to secure the speakership.

Should he assume the title of Speaker of the House, his tenure will still be permanently marred by an astounding six defeats on the House floor — no leading candidate for a party that controls the House has lost on the first speaker’s election ballot in more than 100 years.

John Bowden has the full story.