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:
8:35 p.m. ET, January 4, 2023
Chip Roy told GOP leaders he thinks he can bring along 10 holdouts
From CNN's Melanie Zanona
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.
8:23 p.m. ET, January 4, 2023
The House is voting on whether or not to adjourn
The House is now voting on a motion to adjourn.
If the motion passes, lawmakers will come back at noon on Thursday.
Watch:
8:05 p.m. ET, January 4, 2023
House reconvenes for potential 7th vote on speaker
(House TV)
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.
8:11 p.m. ET, January 4, 2023
McCarthy doesn’t want a vote tonight — says no deal yet as talks continue
From CNN's Manu Raju
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.
7:51 p.m. ET, January 4, 2023
Rep. Scott Perry: Speaker vote "could go into the weekend. We hope it doesn't."
From Kit Maher
Perry and Rep. Matt Gaetz walk to Republican Leader Kevin McCarthys office after the House adjourned following the 6th failed attempt to elect a speaker on Wednesday, January 4. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images)
Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania said lawmakers are having "productive" meetings, but voting could stretch into the weekend.
“It could go into the weekend. We hope it doesn’t," Perry said.
“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.
7:38 p.m. ET, January 4, 2023
Roy says members having a "good conversation" about speakership as McCarthy gives another concession
From CNN's Kate Sullivan
Roy speaks during the fourth vote for Speaker on January 4. (Samuel Corum/Sipa USA/AP)
GOP Rep. Chip Roy said Thursday evening a group of Republicans are having a “good conversation” about the speakership after House Republicans failed to elect a new leader after six rounds of votes.
“We’re having a good conversation in there,” Roy told reporters after emerging from the room where a group of GOP members are negotiating. Roy is one of the Republicans who did not vote for McCarthy in the last few votes.
“Stay tuned because these conversations continue,” Roy said.
The GOP meeting also included Reps. Scott Perry, Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Anna Paulina Luna, Byron Donalds, Jim Jordan and Thomas Massie.
Another concession by McCarthy: A McCarthy-aligned PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), has agreed to not spend money in open-seat primaries in safe Republican districts.
"CLF has never spent a dollar against a Republican incumbent before and obviously will continue that policy in the future," a statement from CLF President Dan Conston said. In exchange, a conservative organization, Club for Growth, is now backing McCarthy for speaker.
“This agreement on super PAC’s fulfills a major concern we have pressed for. We understand that Leader McCarthy and Members are working on a rules agreement that will meet the principles we have set out previously. Assuming these principles are met, Club for Growth will support Kevin McCarthy for Speaker," Club for Growth President David McIntosh said in a statement.
Not having the McCarthy-aligned PAC play in open-seat primaries is something that had been an ask of Roy and other conservatives.
7:13 p.m. ET, January 4, 2023
McCarthy has no more margin for error, allies believe
From CNN's Manu Raju
McCarthy speaks with members of the media as he departs the House Chamber on Wednesday, January 4. (Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy has no more margin for error with the expectation that four Republicans — Andy Biggs, Chip Roy, Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert — are almost certainly immovable in their opposition.
That means he has to somehow convince the rest of the bloc of 20 to change their votes to either “present,” which would lower the voting threshold, or to vote for him.
GOP sources familiar with the matter still believe they are making progress but don’t think McCarthy will get a deal locked in before the 8 p.m. ET vote.
6:47 p.m. ET, January 4, 2023
"He's a desperate guy." Gaetz and Boebert meet with McCarthy but remain firmly opposed to him
From CNN's Annie Grayer
Boebert and Gaetz talk with colleagues in the House Chamber on Wednesday, January 5. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, who voted against Rep. Kevin McCarthy for speaker on all six ballots, emerged Wednesday evening from a meeting with the GOP House leader and some of his top allies showing no indication they have changed their minds.
“He’s a desperate guy whose vote share is dropping with every subsequent vote and I’m ready to vote all night, all week, all month, and never for that person,” Gaetz said of McCarthy.
Boebert said the “boats are burned” when it comes to any future negotiations with McCarthy. She said at this point “we need to get to a person that is a consensus candidate. And these folks need to realize that there is life after Kevin and they have to figure out how to get there.”
In addition to Gaetz and Boebert, Bob Good and Andy Biggs have told CNN’s Manu Raju that they are both hard No’s against McCarthy.
None of this bodes well for McCarthy.
Gaetz said he is even more frustrated with McCarthy than before because in the meeting tonight, he said McCarthy apologized to him about misrepresenting their conversations but would not make that apology public when Gaetz asked.
“Mr. McCarthy asked those of us who were not intending to vote for him to provide him a list of our members who might be willing to serve on relevant committees,” Gaetz said. “And so we then endeavor to create that list to provide it to Mr. McCarthy. And then he ran around telling all y'all and members of his team that we were out there negotiating for personal favors, for ourselves. So, it was a bad faith effort for McCarthy to solicit a list and then use that list in some way to try to divide our conference.”
