McCarthy loses sixth Speaker vote, failing to secure majority 

For the sixth time, Republican Kevin McCarthy did not receive enough votes to become Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

McCarthy, the leading contender to replace Democrat Nancy Pelosi, needs at least 218 votes to be elected. However, he has fallen short of that mark by 20 votes for the third straight time across two days.  

The votes of the 20 other Republicans McCarthy needed went to his primary opponent, Byron Donalds. The remaining votes went to Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries, who got 212 votes. 

Without a House Speaker, who oversees the lower chamber of Congress, Congressional business cannot begin and members of the House cannot be officially sworn in. 

The chamber voted to adjourn the meeting until later this evening. Until then, McCarthy is engaging in closed-door talks with the group in order to reach an agreement. 

“We will get to 218, we’ll solve our problems and we will all work together,” McCarthy said. 

“You see the number of votes. We have 90% of the votes. I’ve never seen a body where 10% is going to control the 90%. It just doesn’t happen,” he added.  

President Joe Biden called the Republican infighting “a little embarrassing”

"For two reasons. One, it's embarrassing for the country. And I mean literally,” Biden said. 

"To be able to have a Congress that can't function is just embarrassing. We're the greatest country in the world. How can that be?”

Former President Donald Trump, a longtime ally of McCarthy, called on Republicans to unify behind the candidate and end the voting. 

“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,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Wednesday morning. 

“REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT,” he continued in all caps. “IT'S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT.”