Rs are meeting to try to "negotiate a solution to the stalemate."

Either they fail, or McCarthy steps aside, or McCarthy gives in so totally to blackmail that he has no effective power.

Simply true. The orange stain's endorsement moved no votes, and "MAGA loyalists" are instead telling him what to do.

.

Some extreme cuteness as everyone waits.

So the Rs are going to "negotiate" to end the standoff.

Either that fails (they have already tried) or McCarthy pays massive blackmail to the Taliban20... and preemptively hands much of the Speaker's power to them.

Either way, the shitshow goes on.

NB that the orange "endorsement" had no effect at all.

Oh, man, this is a TERRIBLE answer from Kevin. "Most" is not a majority.

Kevin wants an adjournment to avoid another failed vote. Ds oppose adjourning - why bail Rs out? And it's looking like the R whip operation can't get enough votes to adjourn.

Another fiasco in the making?

McCarthy is trying to get written demands from the defectors so he can try to satisfy them. That's a recipe for disaster. Firstly, there may well be at least 5 hard nos, period. Secondly, if he manages to eke out a win by giving in to blackmail from the craziest, he'll be utterly powerless. They'll rule, not him.

Oh dear... reporters say McCarthy *supporters* are getting angry calls from their constituents because they're not supporting Jordan.

Meanwhile it's difficult to imagine Jordan reaching 218, either. Too many hate his guts and know he's a liability.

Well, there is that, yes.

Hoo boy. #TFG tells the cult to vote for Kevin... and the cult responds by hailing the defectors as *true* Trumpists and Kevin as an apostate.

The cult is out of Trump's own control. Not for the first time, either.

#TFG's whine/endorsement/order doesn't seem to be having the desired effect. MAGA is a monster beyond his control, too.

An apt summary of the R Speaker race mess.

Meanwhile Kevin is reportedly in talks with his allies about adjourning to avoid a 4th vote today... which suggests Trump's whine ("Just pick him, he's not THAT bad! All this infighting is distracting from mocking Pelosi for losing!") hasn't moved enough votes to get him to 218.

It's hard to see this actually happening, but we could do a lot worse.

Um... I see no evidence Kevin "knows" this, given that his loudly stated plans for the current Congress focus on shutdowns and defaults to blackmail Biden into repealing everything he's done and endless bogus "investigations" to rile up the crazy base.

Reading the tea leaves, this doesn't sound like strength for Kevin.

@mcfate Generally, that's true, yes. There are exceptions. No one really wanted Oz, e.g. The base was seething when Trump endorsed him. But he moved just enough of them for Oz to be nominated.