January 4, 2023 GOP deadlocked over House speaker vote

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy’s team has made an offer to his conservative opponents filled with “substantive” rules changes and other process issues they have demanded, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

The bloc is reviewing the proposal now.

But even if they accept it, it’s not enough to get to 218 votes, the source acknowledges. Other concessions will have to be made to other opponents who have raised different concerns.

Kevin McCarthy suffered yet another stinging defeat on Wednesday as he lost in the sixth round of voting to elect a speaker — a major blow that increasingly imperils his bid and heightens uncertainty over whether he can still secure the gavel or if a viable candidate will emerge as an alternative. 

The House voted Wednesday evening to adjourn until 12 p.m. ET on Thursday as Republicans scramble to find a path forward. 

The House GOP majority has been stuck at a contentious stalemate amid opposition to McCarthy from a group of conservatives. The fight, which began on the first day of the 118th Congress, has thrown the new House GOP majority into chaos and undercut the party's agenda.

The House will continue to be paralyzed until this standoff is resolved. The situation has grown dire for McCarthy's political future as Republican allies are beginning to fear that the House GOP leader may not be able to pull off his gamble for speaker if the fight goes much longer.

It's not at all clear whether McCarthy and his allies will be able to lock down the votes -- and the longer the fight drags on, the more imperiled his speakership bid has become. But there were signs Wednesday that negotiations are progressing. 

Last-minute deal-making: After a series of failed speaker votes earlier in the day, the House adjourned for several hours as Republicans continued talks. 

Texas Rep. Chip Roy, one of the conservatives who has voted against McCarthy's speakership bid, told GOP leaders that he thinks he can get 10 holdouts to come along if these ongoing negotiations pan out, according to GOP sources familiar with the internal discussions, and that there are additional detractors who may be willing to vote "present."

Sources said the talks Wednesday between McCarthy allies and holdouts have been the most productive and serious ones to date. And in one sign of a breakthrough, a McCarthy-aligned super PAC agreed to not play in open Republican primaries in safe seats -- one of the big demands that conservatives had asked for but that McCarthy had resisted until this point.

Still, even if these negotiations prove successful and 10 lawmakers do flip to McCarthy's column — which is far from certain — that doesn't get McCarthy to the 218 votes to win the speakership, so he would still have more work to do.

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Four Republican lawmakers voted against a motion to adjourn the House until Thursday. If the House had not adjourned, members would have held another vote for speaker.

These are the lawmakers who opposed adjournment:

• Rep. Andy Biggs
• Rep. Lauren Boebert 
• Rep. Matt Gaetz
• Rep.-elect Eli Crane

The four have voted against Rep. Kevin McCarthy for speaker.

Shortly after reconvening Wednesday night, the House voted to adjourn until noon Thursday — with still no speaker elected.

Through six votes in two days, GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy has not been able to get a majority of votes needed to win the speakership.

He told reporters he did not want another vote Wednesday, saying lawmakers have not yet reached a deal. A group of 20 Republicans has been voting against McCarthy.

The House cannot continue with any other business until a speaker is elected — including swearing in of new members.

Watch the moment:

Rep. Chip Roy told Republican leaders he thinks he can get 10 holdouts to come along if these ongoing negotiations pan out, according to GOP sources familiar with the internal discussions, and that there are additional detractors who may be willing to vote present. 

Sources said the talks tonight amongst McCarthy allies and holdouts have been the most productive and serious ones to date. In one sign of a breakthrough, a McCarthy-aligned super PAC agreed to not play in open primaries in safe seats — one of the big demands that conservatives had asked for but that McCarthy had resisted up until this point.

Still, even if these negotiations prove successful and 10 lawmakers do flip to McCarthy’s column — far from certain — that doesn’t get McCarthy to 218, so he would still have more work to do.

The House is now voting on a motion to adjourn.

If the motion passes, lawmakers will come back at noon on Thursday.

Watch:

The House is reconvening to potentially vote for a seventh time for speaker.

GOP House leader Kevin McCarthy has been defeated in the last six rounds of votes.

Ahead of the evening session, McCarthy said does not want another vote for speaker tonight.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy does not want another vote for speaker tonight.

The House voted to adjourn until 8 p.m. ET and lawmakers have since been having closed-door discussions.

McCarthy said no deal has been reached yet, but said progress is being made as talks are ongoing. He said those talks should continue, instead of holding a vote.

"I think it’s probably best — let people work through some more. I don’t think vote tonight does any different but I think vote in the future will," he told reporters. McCarthy has already failed six times to win enough votes to secure the speakership.

Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania said lawmakers are having "productive" meetings, but voting could stretch into the weekend.

“All I can tell you is that we had a productive meeting,” he said after leaving Rep. Tom Emmer’s office with several Republicans. 

“There’s a lot to be done in just a little bit of time between now and 8 o'clock,” he added.

Perry said he couldn’t answer if there would be another ballot tonight.