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US House adjourns with no speaker elected despite longest election in 164 years
By Xinhua Published: Jan 06, 2023 05:55 PM
Members gather in the US House chamber as the House meets to elect a speaker in Washington, DC Jan 5, 2023. The US House of Representatives voted to adjourn until noon on Friday with no speaker elected on Thursday after 11 rounds of voting. Photo:Xinhua

Members gather in the US House chamber as the House meets to elect a speaker in Washington, DC Jan 5, 2023. The US House of Representatives voted to adjourn until noon on Friday with no speaker elected on Thursday after 11 rounds of voting. Photo:Xinhua



 
US Congressman Kevin McCarthy (1st R) listens in the House chamber as the House meets for a second day to elect a speaker in Washington, DC Jan 5, 2023. The US House of Representatives voted to adjourn until noon on Friday with no speaker elected on Thursday after 11 rounds of voting. Photo:Xinhua

US Congressman Kevin McCarthy (1st R) listens in the House chamber as the House meets for a second day to elect a speaker in Washington, DC Jan 5, 2023. The US House of Representatives voted to adjourn until noon on Friday with no speaker elected on Thursday after 11 rounds of voting. Photo:Xinhua



 
US Congressman Kevin McCarthy (1st R) listens in the House chamber as the House meets for a second day to elect a speaker in Washington, DC Jan 5, 2023. The US House of Representatives voted to adjourn until noon on Friday with no speaker elected on Thursday after 11 rounds of voting. Photo:Xinhua

US Congressman Kevin McCarthy (1st R) listens in the House chamber as the House meets for a second day to elect a speaker in Washington, DC Jan 5, 2023. The US House of Representatives voted to adjourn until noon on Friday with no speaker elected on Thursday after 11 rounds of voting. Photo:Xinhua


The US House of Representatives voted to adjourn until noon on Friday with no speaker elected on Thursday after 11 rounds of voting.

US Congressman Kevin McCarthy from California, the House Republican leader, fell short of the necessary votes to take the gavel in five more rounds of voting Thursday afternoon.

The House has voted 11 times since the 118th Congress convened on Tuesday, making it the longest speaker contest in 164 years.

The 435-seat lower chamber, where Republicans have a slim majority over Democrats, is unable to conduct any legislative business until a speaker is elected.

McCarthy has the support of most House Republicans and former US President Donald Trump but a handful of hardliners have pressured him to decentralize the speaker's power.

All House Democrats have voted for Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, to be speaker in the election.

Though it's unlikely for Jeffries to attain the position, he is set to become the first African American lawmaker to lead a party in either chamber of the US Congress.

Republicans flipped the House in the 2022 midterm elections and Democrats held onto their majority in the Senate.

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that it's "embarrassing for the country" not to have a fully functional Congress, the legislature of the federal government.
 
This photo taken on Jan 5, 2023 shows the US Capitol building in Washington, DC. The US House of Representatives voted to adjourn until noon on Friday with no speaker elected on Thursday after 11 rounds of voting. Photo:Xinhua

This photo taken on Jan 5, 2023 shows the US Capitol building in Washington, DC. The US House of Representatives voted to adjourn until noon on Friday with no speaker elected on Thursday after 11 rounds of voting. Photo:Xinhua



 
This photo taken on Jan 5, 2023 shows the empty chair of the speaker of the US House on the Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The US House of Representatives voted to adjourn until noon on Friday with no speaker elected on Thursday after 11 rounds of voting. Photo:Xinhua

This photo taken on Jan 5, 2023 shows the empty chair of the speaker of the US House on the Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The US House of Representatives voted to adjourn until noon on Friday with no speaker elected on Thursday after 11 rounds of voting. Photo:Xinhua



 
This photo taken on Jan 5, 2023 shows the US Capitol building in Washington, DC. The US House of Representatives voted to adjourn until noon on Friday with no speaker elected on Thursday after 11 rounds of voting. Photo:Xinhua

This photo taken on Jan 5, 2023 shows the US Capitol building in Washington, DC. The US House of Representatives voted to adjourn until noon on Friday with no speaker elected on Thursday after 11 rounds of voting. Photo:Xinhua