McCarthy on track to lose in third 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 yet again 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 Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio in the third 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 and second rounds of voting, McCarthy had 19 Republicans opt against voting for him.

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