House speaker vote: McCarthy thanks Trump for final votes as fight nearly breaks out on floor

"We'll come back tonight and I believe at that time, we'll have the votes to finish this once and for all," Kevin McCarthy says.

Asked how he expects to govern with a conference like this, he replies: "Because it took this long, now we learned how to govern.”

Matt Gaetz tells reporters he is happy about the framework deal and suggests he could make deal with Kevin McCarthy now after holding out for four days.

“We’re still negotiating on spending and on the rules, and we’ll see how it goes tonight.”

“I think the House is in a lot better place with some of the work that’s been done to democratise power out of the speakership and that’s our goal.”

Democrats met on the steps of the Capitol to mark the second anniversary of the deadly Capitol riot in 2021. The families of police officers killed and injured in the event were also on hand, as was only a single Republican lawmaker.

Graig Graziosi reports.

Republican Rep Chris Stewart tells CNN: “You have to give Nancy Pelosi credit. One way or another, she kept her caucus in line. And I don’t know how she did it.”

Two years after the effort to overturn the election culminated in a violent insurrection on the Capitol, a portrait of how Mr Trump’s day went on January 6 has emerged in a trove of documents from a House selection committee investigation.

Andrew Feinberg pieced the former president’s day together.

CNN’s Kate Sullivan reports that key holdout Eli Crane will not vote for Kevin McCarthy for speaker.

C-SPAN has been lauded for providing an unfiltered, transparent live feed of all the action on the floor of the House of Representatives as Republicans struggled to agree on a speaker this week.

Audiences have been treated to a fascinating insight into how Congress functions – or dysfunctions, as the case may be.

There have been hours of footage of huddling lawmakers, animated negotiations, and unexpected pairings of people with well-known quarrels.

Usually, congressional rules dictate what cameras can and cannot show in the Capitol, but with no representatives sworn in there are no such rules, leaving C-SPAN camera operators seemingly free to capture all the frustrations, laughter, and intensity of four days of voting.

Needless to say the C-SPAN team — and the still photographers present — have won the praise of political junkies across the nation for putting us all ringside.

Howard Mortman, the network’s communications director, shared some pictures of a few members of the team that brought those images to the world.

Others offered their own praise.

C-SPAN’s co-CEO Susan Swain noted that while their coverage is getting kudos, the non-profit network “doesn’t get a dime” of government funding.

“Sadly, we’re not available to all pay TV customers, importantly YouTube and Hulu,” she tweeted, adding the request: “Please help convince them to add C-SPAN to their lineups by liking and retweeting.”

Former President Donald Trump is excitedly awaiting a likely vote in favour of Kevin McCarthy after a week of ballots in which he failed to be elected Speaker of the House.

Mr Trump posted: “LOOKING VERY GOOD FOR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, AND OUR COUNTRY, TONIGHT. ALL COMING TOGETHER. STAY TUNED!!!”

If there was an unexpected breakout star in the House this week, it wasn’t a grandstanding elected representative, it was a diligent official doing her job and rightly winning praise for keeping proceedings on track.