US House of Representatives adjourns for 2nd day without electing House speaker

Washington: The US House of Representatives adjourned for a second day without electing a House speaker, after Republican Kevin McCarthy fell short on three more ballots, failing to win a majority of support in the House. The House will reconvene on Thursday at noon.

Earlier, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected Republican Kevin McCarthy's bid to lead the chamber as a small group of holdouts in the party defied former President Donald Trump's call for unity. Despite Mr Trump's



appeal, 20 Republicans on the party's right flank voted for an alternative candidate. 

It left McCarthy short of the majority needed to become House speaker, a powerful post that is second in the line of succession to the presidency. McCarthy secured only 201 votes on Wednesday, as 20 Republicans voted for Representative Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican first elected in 2020, and one Republican declined to back a specific candidate.