I’m reading that McCarthy has made more concessions to the wackjob caucus, meaning he’s not giving up. I fear we’re in for more of wash, rinse, repeat. Well, it’s just past noon EST, so I assume they’re starting up again …
Annie Karni at the New York Times points out that at no time all week has Kevin McCarthy bothered to address the House to make a case for himself.
Update: Matt Gaetz just voted for Donald Trump for speaker.
Update: Some Republican reps were missing from the seventh vote, but it’s still pretty much the same as the last vote, and McCarthy falls short.
Update: In the seventh vote McCarthy gained not a single vote from previous votes. He’s stuck at 201 votes. Nobody is budging.
Update: Here comes the eighth vote.
Update: In the Ss. No movement toward McCarthy yet.
Update: I’m getting behind. Now they’re in the ninth vote. When McCarthy loses this one, it will break the 20th century record for speaker votes, I believe.
Update: McCarthy lost a vote in the ninth round. He’s down to 200.
Update: It has been noted that since Gaetz has voted for Trump twice, Trump now ties John Quincy Adams for most speaker votes cast for a former president.
Update: They’re discussing whether to do another vote today, I believe.
Update: Yep, they’re doing a tenth vote. The 20th century record is broken. I sincerely hope they aren’t going for an all-time record. The 1855-1856 speaker election lasted for 133 ballots over nearly two months.