Stalemate continues as McCarthy fails again to win House speakership

The US Capitol in Washington (Scott Applewhite/AP)

The speaker’s chair of the US House of Representatives sat empty for a third day on Thursday, as Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed anew on the seventh of an excruciating string of ballots to win enough votes from his party to seize the chamber’s gavel.

One of Mr McCarthy’s steadfast critics, Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, even cast his vote for Donald Trump, a symbolic gesture, but one that highlighted the former president’s influence over the Republican Party.