hi there, everyone, here we go again. it s 4:00 in new york. at this hour, the house of representatives is completely and totally paralyzed. it is unable and incapable of swearing in members, forming committees, setting rules for itself, passing legislation even in the case of an emergency, couldn t do any of those things. it s a state of chaos and paralysis that is unprecedent ed in modern american history and it is all because the new republican house majority cannot agree on who should lead it in the 118th congress. house gop leader kevin mccarthy has moved into the speaker s office already, appears to be living by the motto, if at first you don t succeed try, try, try, try, try, try again. he has now lost five votes for the speakership, a sixth vote is underway. it s already clear from the math that mccarthy doesn t have the votes to become speaker of the house of representatives this time either. democrats for their part quietly made history yesterday by choosing the fir
walk back into the office sheepishly, what is being kevin mccarthy like right now? well, nicolle, c-span viewers know as much as i do about that. as best i can tell mccarthy hasn t left the floor or the adjacent cloak room, or the speakers offices that are attached to the floor. all day long he hasn t come back into the halls. he hasn t availed himself of any opportunity to discuss his feelings with reporters. he s very aware of the cameras. he s very aware that he s in the spotlight right now. he s taken every opportunity to project confidence both in how he appears in his demeanor when he s discussed on the floor and the people he s had giving nominating speeches for. he had a freedom caucus member today, a young up and comer in mike gallagher today, he had his most likely theoretical challengers in steve scalise and jim jordan.