WASHINGTON (AP) — Pressure mounting, the speaker’s chair of the U.S. House sat empty for a third day Thursday, as Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed anew on the seventh of an excruciating string of ballots to win enough votes from his party to seize the chamber’s gavel.
One of McCarthy’s steadfast critics, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, even cast his vote for Donald Trump, a symbolic gesture, but one that highlighted the former president’s influence over the Republican Party.
The seventh vote for speaker turned out no different from the others, with McCarthy well short of the required majority.
