• Members of the US House of Representatives will try to pick a Speaker for 4th day.
• Kevin McCarthy has so far fallen short of the 218 votes needed to win.
• That’s as a result of a right-wing group inside his own party not supporting him.

In an effort to break a political deadlock, members of the US House of Representatives will try to pick a Speaker for a fourth day on Friday.

Republican front-runner Kevin McCarthy has so far fallen short of the 218 votes needed to win.

That’s as a result of a right-wing group inside his own party not supporting him.

11 votes have so far been rejected, which is the most paralyzed the government has been since before the Civil War.

McCarthy needs to allay the fears of 16 out of 20 Republican holdouts to pass the threshold and become speaker.

For more than a day now, there has been talk of concessions he could make to win them over. As talks proceed, the outlines of a potential deal have become more clear.

His hope at this point seems to be that if he can convince some of them to back him, there will be sufficient pressure on the others to throw in the towel and give up the fight.

Progress is slow and, as some McCarthy supporters grow restless, a resolution – if it comes – could still be days away.

Mr. McCarthy had already offered compromises that would have weakened the Speaker’s role in the House. However, these haven’t been enough to break the impasse.

The Speaker of the House is the second in line to the presidency, after Vice-President Kamala Harris. They set the agenda in the House, and no legislative business can be conducted there without them.

Without a Speaker, no business in the House can be conducted – including the swearing in of members of the passing of bills.

The so-called “Never Kevins” who are standing in Mr McCarthy’s way are skeptical of the California congressman’s conservative bona fides, despite his endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

Their votes are crucial because Republicans took over the House in November’s midterm elections by only a slender margin of 222 to 212 in the 435-seat chamber.

There haven’t been many indications that a deal is imminent, however.

One staunch member of the holdout group, Congressman Matt Gaetz, told reporters on Thursday night that he won’t support any deal that “results in Kevin McCarthy becoming speaker”.

The last ballot that took place on Thursday before the House was adjourned saw Mr. McCarthy earn 200 votes, while 12 Republicans voted for Byron Donalds and seven for Kevin Hern.

Mr. Gaetz cast a protest ballot for Mr. Trump to serve in the role.

Not since 1860, when the United States’ union was fraying over the issue of slavery, has the lower chamber of Congress voted so many times to pick a Speaker.

Back then it took 44 rounds of ballots.

Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the first black person to ever lead a party in Congress, had unanimous support from the minority Democrats as they continued to elect him as their leader.

That he could persuade six Republican defectors to support him and become Speaker, though, still appears improbable.

Additionally, voting on Friday coincides with the anniversary of the US Capitol Riots, in which a mob of Donald Trump backers attempted to prevent Congress from certifying the Republican’s loss in the 2020 election.

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