What Happens if There's No House Speaker?

The U.S. House of Representatives has no speaker following the failure of any candidate to win a majority of votes on the first day of the new Congress on Tuesday.

Republican Representative Kevin McCarthy couldn't secure a majority in three ballots as a minority within his own party opposed his election and the House agreed to adjourn for the day following the third round of voting.

The House will meet again at noon on Wednesday but it's not clear if McCarthy will be able to sway enough of his detractors. In the third round, 20 Republicans voted for Representative Jim Jordan and 202 for McCarthy, while all 212 Democrats voted for Representative Hakeem Jeffries.

Electing the speaker at the start of the new Congress is usually a formality and no speaker has failed to win on the first ballot since 1923. The lack of a speaker will affect the functioning of the House.

Members of the House are sworn in after the speaker is elected and with no speaker in the chair, the members of the 118th Congress have yet to take the oath of office.