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o sooner had lawmakers reconvened to vote for the seventh time for speaker of the House than Republicans put forward another motion to adjourn to keep negotiatingwith the conservative hard-liners keeping Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from winning the gavel.
Democrats objected in a voice vote, asking for a roll call vote on whether to adjourn. The contentious vote ended with 216 votes in favor of adjourning and 214 against, while two lawmakers from each party did not vote. The body will reconvene at noon Thursday.
McCarthy hopes to keep talks going through the night with the 20 Republicans who blocked his bid on the six previous votes. He said coming out of meetings with his detractors that the two sides made progress since the last vote around 4 p.m.
While the chamber adjourned for over three hours to continue negotiating, the political action committee aligned with McCarthy agreed not to fund primary races — a major sticking point with the conservative wing united against him. McCarthy needs 218 votes to win the gavel and ended the last vote with 201 in his favor when one member voted present.
