The United States House of Representatives, mired in a chaotic leadership battle, rejected Republican Kevin McCarthy's bid to lead the chamber three more times on Wednesday as a small group of holdouts in the party defied former President Donald Trump's call for unity.
Despite Mr Trump's appeal, Mr McCarthy fell short in three consecutive votes for House speaker , as roughly 20 Republicans on the party's right flank refused to back a candidate they deemed ideologically unreliable.
Politicians then voted to recess until 8pm ET (noon Thursday, AEDT) while they seek a solution behind closed doors.
"We've either got to get some real conversations going with a select group of people, or we've got to get everybody back in the caucus room and start beating the daylights out of each other," Republican Representative Jeff Van Drew, a McCarthy supporter, told reporters.
The last time the House failed to elect a speaker on the first ballot was 1923, a century ago.
It's the first time since 1923 that the US House of Representatives has failed to elect a speaker on the first round of voting. Source: Getty / Olivier Douliery
Though Mr McCarthy's supporters had hoped the repeated votes - now numbering six - would wear down opponents, they failed to make headway.
Mr McCarthy, who has served as the top House Republican since 2019, secured only 201 votes of the 218 needed, while 20 Republicans voted for Representative Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican first elected in 2020. One Republican declined to back a specific candidate. All 212 of the chamber's Democrats voted for their leader, Hakeem Jeffries.
"I think the path is very difficult right now for Kevin," Mr Donalds told Fox News after the vote.
Mr McCarthy said he ultimately would prevail.
"We'll get there," Mr McCarthy told reporters before Wednesday's voting.
Byron Donalds (centre, left) of Florida won 20 votes in the fourth ballot. Source: Getty / Chip Somodevilla
"It's worth taking a few days or a few weeks to get the best possible speaker," said Republican Representative Bob Good, one of the holdouts.
The vote is also a rebuke of Mr Trump, who urged fellow Republicans to set aside their differences.
"It's now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN," Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social on Wednesday ahead of the day's votes.
Mr Trump remains an influential figure among Republicans and is so far . Some in the party have blamed Mr Trump for the failure of Republicans to win more congressional seats in the midterms.
Hardliners called on him to take another tack.
"The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy, 'Sir, you do not have the votes and it's time to withdraw,'" Republican Representative Lauren Boebert said, referring to Mr Trump.
The weaker-than-expected performance in the midterm elections contributed to the House leadership crisis by leaving Mr McCarthy dependent upon the support of a small group of hardliners in his party. That group wants greater control over leadership and more influence over the party's approach to spending and debt.
Republican control of the House could empower the party to frustrate Democratic President Joe Biden's legislative agenda. But the leadership standoff raised questions about whether the House will be able to meet basic obligations such as funding government operations, let alone advance other policy priorities ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
