Episode Details

By Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Maureen Chowdhury and Elise Hammond, CNN

Updated 10:06 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

• The House has adjourned until noon Friday after Rep. Kevin McCarthy suffered a stinging 11th defeat in the race for House speaker. 
• After three days of voting, this is now the longest speaker contest in 164 years. 
• McCarthy has continued to negotiate with a group of hardline Republicans who've derailed his bid, proposing key concessions in his push to get more votes.
• About this process: A nominee needs 218 votes, but the number required could change if members withhold their votes. The House can't kick off the new Congress or swear in new members until a speaker is elected.

Opposition: Twenty Republican lawmakers, despite continued talks and concessions, have so far declined to support McCarthy. Republicans again nominated Rep. Byron Donalds for four of five of Thursday’s voting rounds. After getting a few votes on the eighth ballot, Rep. Kevin Hern was also officially nominated for the ninth, 10th and 11th rounds of voting. Notably, Rep. Matt Gaetz voted for former President Donald Trump during the seventh and eighth ballots, and he nominated the former president for speaker in the 11th ballot. Trump only received one vote in that round.

·  “Motion to vacate”: In a series of new concessions first reported by CNN Wednesday night, McCarthy agreed to propose a rules change that would allow just one member to call for a vote to oust a sitting speaker, sources say. McCarthy had initially proposed a five-member threshold, down from current conference rules that require half of the GOP to call for such a vote. 

·  Other concessions: McCarthy also agreed to allow for more members of the Freedom Caucus to serve on the powerful House Rules Committee. While McCarthy’s allies are willing to swallow most of the deals, they are drawing a line in the sand over one issue: committee gavels for the holdouts. Later, in a meeting with moderates, McCarthy downplayed the concessions he’s made so far.

A historic floor fight: This is the longest speakership bid in more than 160 years. It took nine ballots for Rep. Frederick Gillett of Massachusetts to be elected speaker in 1923. And in 1849, the House had been in session so long without being able to elect a speaker – 19 days – that members voted to elect their speaker with a plurality rather than a majority. Members ultimately confirmed the plurality election with a majority vote.

NYT  Jan. 5, 2023Updated 11:09 p.m. ET

Kevin McCarthy