Key events

Recap

Republican Kevin Mccarthy has faced a humiliating series of setbacks today after rightwing members of his party refuse to back his bid for speaker. McCarthy failed to gain the necessary support after three rounds of voting, becoming the first nominee for speaker in 100 years to fail to win the first vote for the gavel. The House will reconvene tomorrow.

Here’s where things stand:

• Democrats rallied behind their leader, Hakeem Jeffries, who got more support than McCarthy in three rounds of voting.

• Republican Andy Biggs of Arizona (nominated by rightwinger Paul Gosar) had 10 votes after the first round, and in the second round, Jim Jordan of Ohio, was supported by 19 Republicans. In the third round, Jordan had 20 votes.

• Reporters spotted Chick-fil-A being delivered to the Capitol, signaling a long night of negotiations ahead among House Republicans.

• The Senate convened without incident.

The fabulist New York Republican representative-elect George Santos has yet to be sworn in. In the meantime, Brazilian prosecutors say they are reopening a criminal fraud case against him.

Santos, who faces federal and state investigations involving possible criminal activity related to his two congressional campaigns, is accused of using a stolen chequebook and fake name at a clothing shop outside Rio de Janeiro in 2008, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing court documents.

The case languished for more than a decade, however, as Brazilian authorities did not know where Santos was.

Santos reportedly told police in 2010 that he and his mother stole the chequebook from a man that she had once worked for, and then used it to make illicit purchases, per the Times.

He seemed to come clean about the purported fraud to the store’s proprietor the next year on a Brazilian social media website, allegedly writing: “I know I screwed up, but I want to pay.”

While a judge in Brazil greenlit a charge against Santos in 2011, he had already gone to the US. Because Brazilian authorities needed to officially notify him of the charges before the case could proceed, the case ground to a halt. Brazilian prosecutors will now file a petition in court asking that Santos respond to the charges, after which Brazil’s justice ministry will send it to the US justice department.

If convicted, the maximum penalty is five years imprisonment as well as a fine, the New York Times said.

“We’ll see what happens,” Donald Trump told NBC’s Garrett Haake after he was asked whether he’ll stick with his support for McCarthy.

Trump endorsed McCarthy for speaker and had tried to rally support for him before he lost three rounds of speaker votes today.

Here’s some context, again, on what today’s three, chaotic rounds of voting for House speaker mean, from Joan E Greve and Lauren Gambino in Washington:

McCarthy is the first nominee for speaker in 100 years to fail to win the first vote for the gavel. After the first three ballots, the House prepared for votes that could stretch into Tuesday evening.

McCarthy had acknowledged he was unlikely to win the speakership on the first ballot, setting the stage for a potentially lengthy delay before new members of the House could be sworn in. McCarthy suggested he was comfortable breaking the record for the longest speakership election in history, which stands at two months and 133 ballots.

“We may have a battle on the floor,” McCarthy told reporters. “But the battle is for the conference and the country, and that’s fine with me.”

The Republican opposition to McCarthy has been led by members of the House’s Freedom Caucus, a hard-right group that has pushed for changes to chamber rules. Scott Perry, the Freedom Caucus chair, reiterated his opposition on Tuesday and accused McCarthy of failing to work in good faith with his group.

“At nearly every turn, we’ve been sidelined or resisted by McCarthy and any perceived progress has often been vague or contained loopholes that further amplified concerns as to the sincerity of the promises being made,” Perry said. “Kevin McCarthy had an opportunity to be speaker of the House. He rejected it.”

House adjourns until tomorrow

The House has adjourned until noon tomorrow.

No speaker yet, and new members have not been sworn in.

The break will give Republicans a chance to convene and perhaps work out a deal by tomorrow.

“The reality is Rep. Kevin McCarthy doesn’t have the votes,” said Bryon Donalds, who defected from McCarthy in the third round. “Our conference needs to recess and huddle and find someone or work out the next steps.”

McCarthy loses third vote

The tally in this third round of voting came out to 212 forJeffries, 202 for McCarthy and 20 for Jordan. Again, no one has a majority.

It’s unclear for how long this will go on.

Representative Byron Donalds, a Republican of Florida, has become the first McCarthy supporter to switch his vote from McCarthy to Jordan.

The vote got a few claps in the chamber.

Hi there, is Maanvi Singh, reporting from West Coast.

It seems Kevin McCarthy is on the verge of losing for the third time today, after five Republicans so far voted in support of Jim Jordan.

Democrats, meanwhile, have remained united in voting for Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Today so far

Hello again, US politics blog readers, the drama in Washington is far from over as the election for House Speaker is still inconclusive.

Republican Kevin McCarthy is suffering a humiliating drubbing at the hands of his supposed fellows, as right-wing rebels turn the first day of GOP control of the House in the new Congress into a crisis for the party.

We are about to witness the third round of voting. Louisiana’s Steve Scalise just rose to his feet to nominate McCarthy for speaker.

My colleague in California, Maanvi Singh, will take the helm of this blog now and we’ll continue to bring you the developments as they happen.

Here’s where things stand:

• As we head for an excruciating third round of voting in the election for House Speaker, there is no sign of California Republican Kevin McCarthy, who has long aspired to step into the role, gaining a majority of the votes.

• Kevin McCarthy suffers defeat in second round of voting in House speaker election. It’s an epic loss for McCarthy and warring House Republicans. The second round of voting – which has not happened in a century – ended with McCarthy nowhere near a majority.

• Right-winger Jim Jordan of Ohio, who is a McCarthy supporter but was nominated by anti-McCarthy rebel Matt Gaetz to disrupt everything, already took 19 votes in the second round of voting in the election for House speaker.

• The first round of voting delivered a humiliating defeat for Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become House speaker. He just made history in the worst way. The first person in a century to lose the vote for speaker in the first round.

• After the roll call vote in the first round, Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries had 212 votes, McCarthy had just 203, Republican strategic thorn Andy Biggs (nominated by rightwing rebel Paul Gosar) had 10 votes and nine lawmakers supported none of the three hats in the ring.

• All the new members of Congress elected in the midterm elections in November will arrive on Capitol Hill today, many with family in tow, waiting to be sworn in to the brand new 118th Congress. There will be exuberant scenes but the House speaker vote comes first.

• House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy faces historic struggle to clinch speakership, with a battle royale on Capital Hill.

Is Kevin McCarthy’s bid to be House speaker doomed? As we head for an excruciating third round of voting in the election for speaker, there is no sign of the California Republican, who has long aspired to step into the role, gaining a majority of the votes.

Some speculate that if this goes on, McCarthy could step aside and nominate prominent Louisiana congressman Steve Scalise to be speaker in his stead.

Any idea of Ohio rightwinger Jim Jordan leapfrogging into the seat and grasping the gavel seems far-fetched.

And…

It’s surreal.