Kevin McCarthy loses sixth vote in House speaker bid, as chamber adjourns

Kevin McCarthy lost a historic sixth consecutive vote in a bid to be elected as speaker of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, 4 January.

The GOP leader must get a majority of votes from members to be elected to the position, replacing Nancy Pelosi, after Republicans took control of the lower chamber in the November midterms.

Earlier on Wednesday, Joe Biden branded the chaos as “embarrassing.”

After the sixth ballot yielded exactly the same results as the fourth and fifth, GOP Rep Tom Cole moved to adjourn the House until 8pm.

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