The US House of Representatives has failed for a second day to select a new Speaker, after California congressman Kevin McCarthy suffered a humiliating setback in fresh rounds of voting amid sustained opposition from an intransigent group of Republican party rebels.
Despite an eleventh-hour intervention from former president Donald Trump encouraging Republicans to rally around McCarthy, 20 of the party’s lawmakers voted against him in three ballots on Wednesday, depriving him of the simple majority required to take hold of the Speaker’s gavel.
The House is expected to reconvene on Thursday afternoon. Since voting began on Tuesday, McCarthy has lost six ballots.