House votes for fourth time as Republicans fight over speakership – live

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We’re currently at 14 no votes for McCarthy.

But a majority of Republicans are giving McCarthy their support, with McCarthy’s vote for himself met with applause.

Jeffries also received applause as he voted for himself.

Jim Jordan is reportedly having an exchange with Maryland representative Andy Harris, as roll call on McCarthy’s election bid continues.

Jordan was previously floated as a possible nominee challenger to McCarthy.

From Washington Times reporter Mica Soellner:

McCarthy is now at 12 no votes, unable to convince more than half of his 20 original opposers to vote for him.

Though, no new votes against McCarthy have emerged and more votes still need to be counted.

From Politico reporter Olivia Beavers:

With roll calls happening now for McCarthy’s bid to become House speaker, McCarthy is once again short on votes with a number of far-right Republicans voting for Florida representative Byron Donalds as their top choice.

A fifth round will now be required for Republicans to elect their pick for House speaker.

So far, nine ballots have come in for Donalds, as opponents of McCarthy have applauded several times at each dissenting vote.

It seems that McCarthy has not managed to move a single vote to his side, with separate endorsements from Trump and Pence doing little to ensure his election.

McCarthy short on votes for House speaker during fourth ballot

McCarthy, once again, does not have enough votes to become House speaker.

More updates soon!

Fourth vote begins…

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.”

A Democratic email. Photograph: Katherine Clark

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

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.

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

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:

An email from the Democratic whip. Photograph: Email

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. ”

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.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

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?

… 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 endorses McCarthy

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.