Matt Gaetz says he'll resign 'if Democrats join up to elect a moderate Republican' as House speaker

If House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is bothered by the humiliation of losing vote after vote after vote for House speaker, he's not showing it publicly. "If this takes a little longer, and it doesn't meet your deadline, that's okay," he told reporters after losing the 11th vote Thursday night. "Because it's not how you start, it's how you finish."

On CNN Thursday night, Jake Tapper half-joked that he's betting on 29 ballots before the House breaks it deadlock, and he laid out three possible resolutions: Changing the rules so a speaker can be elected with a plurality instead of a 218-vote majority, settling on a consensus candidate, and "just grinding it out" until "somebody blinks." Tapper said he's leaning toward the "grind-out" option, but he's not sure McCarthy will emerge victorious since "there seem to be at least five or six House Republicans that will never vote" for him. He can only lose four Republicans.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.