It was meant to be a routine procedure every two years on January 3.
The newly elected US House of Representatives convenes; the departing speaker adjourns the last chamber; the majority party elects its leader as speaker; and the new speaker administers the oath of office to newly elected members. Then, Congress can resume its duties.
Not so in this instance. Three days and eleven ballots later, the House has yet to choose a speaker, with Republican leader Kevin McCarthy repeatedly failing to achieve a majority in the face of opposition from his own party's far-right members.
The House of Representatives adjourned late on Thursday, with a 12th vote expected on Friday. Before the American Civil War, in 1859, this was the most significant number of votes for House speaker.
McCarthy's vote total slipped from 201 in the first two rounds of voting on Thursday to 200 in the subsequent three rounds. He fell far short of the required 218 votes each time, as Republican dissenters mostly rallied behind Representative Byron Donalds.
Donalds, a Florida representative serving his second term, earned as many as 19 votes during one of Thursday's three votes.
Representative Matt Gaetz, a ringleader in the anti-McCarthy movement, threw his vote three times for former President Donald Trump, who could constitutionally serve as speaker despite the investigations he is facing. The former president supports McCarthy.
On Thursday, all 212 Democrats in the House voted for Hakeem Jeffries, a cohesive stand that Democratic leader Katherine Clark noted was in stark contrast to the Republican instability.
Clark stated on the House floor, "Democrats stand united behind our leader because Hakeem Jeffries stands united for the American people,"
"The historic dysfunction that we see, this intra-party fight that the American people have been drawn into, is imperiling our national security. It will imperil the ability of this government to deliver basic services."
Due to the Republicans' narrow majority in the House, a handful of GOP dissenters can derail the party's agenda. This week's standoff has raised questions about the Republicans' capacity to lead the chamber and deliver legislation.
Before Thursday's vote, there were rumors of resolution progress. McCarthy told reporters on Wednesday, as Republicans continued to negotiate to find a solution to the impasse, that there was "no deal yet, but a lot of progress."
Before they supported McCarthy, the Republican dissenters posed various demands, including modifying the House rules to allow any member to bring a vote of no confidence against the speaker.
In addition, they want a more prominent voice in the House Rules and Appropriations committees, which would allow them to influence the federal budget and assist in determining which measures can be forward in the House.
Republican Congressman Dan Bishop, who has voted against McCarthy, told MSNBC on Thursday that the party is working for "continued improvements" to the legislative process, which has "seen progress," according to Bishop.
Nonetheless, some anti-McCarthy holdouts appeared confident they could continue undermining his campaign.
"We’ve only increased with votes … in opposition to Kevin McCarthy. We suspect that that trend will continue," Gaetz told Fox News on Wednesday.
Although the last time the House failed to pick a speaker on the first ballot was in 1923, anti-McCarthy Republicans are framing the current impasse as a healthy and democratically beneficial debate.
However, the House cannot operate without a speaker.
How therefore does this catastrophe conclude?
Currently, the only way to fix the issue is for one candidate to receive the most votes. Donalds, the leading candidate of the GOP insurgents, is well short of the required number of votes, and with only two years of experience in the US House, he is, at best, a long-shot contender.
McCarthy remains the most plausible candidate, but he must win over enough dissenters to support him. If he fails to do so and withdraws, it may be possible for Republicans to find a consensus candidate.
US analysts have indicated that Republican leader Steve Scalise, who is now in McCarthy's camp, could be a credible successor to McCarthy.
Several other Republican candidates have been proposed, with Oklahoma Representative Kevin Hern, who has served three terms, among the nominees throughout the voting rounds. Lauren Boebert of Colorado nominated him, and he received seven votes in the tenth and eleventh rounds of voting. Early nominees included Andy Biggs of Arizona and Jim Jordan of Ohio.
The speaker of the House may also be selected from outside of Congress. Former Michigan Representative Justin Amash, who quit the Republican Party in 2019 before he retired from Congress, has offered to serve as a "non-partisan" speaker.
Amash has long been a critic of the concentration of power in the hands of the speaker, advocating for more discussions and more significant influence for individual members in the chamber.
However, Amash's bid is also likely to fail. Before leaving Congress, the ex-congressman frequently criticized then-President Trump, which cost him his standing as a rising star in the Republican Party.
Additionally, it has been suggested that Democrats and Republicans can collaborate to select a moderate speaker. Nonetheless, in all nine votes conducted thus far, Democratic legislators have unanimously supported Jeffries and ruled out assisting Republicans.
