McCarthy on track to lose in second round of voting as he tries to become House speaker

Top House Republican Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday afternoon was on course to come up short in a second round of voting as he pushes to become his chamber’s next speaker. He can handle no more than four GOP defections given his party’s 222-212 majority, but more than that number had backed other candidates in the latest round of voting, which was still underway. The House is required to keep voting until a speaker is elected, and this is the first time since 1923 that a speaker election is needing multiple votes. In the first round of voting, McCarthy had 203 Republicans support him.

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