Kevin McCarthy's Republican allies worked frantically behind closed doors on Wednesday to save his bid to become speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, as he suffered defeat after defeat from 20 hard-line conservatives from his own party.
McCarthy fell short in six consecutive ballots in two days, as Republican holdouts deemed him ideologically unreliable and defied a call for unity from former President Donald Trump. It was unclear whether he could overcome hard-line opposition that could force the party to pick another candidate.
With frustrations rising among McCarthy's backers, lawmakers adjourned until the evening to resume negotiations that had proven fruitless so far.
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