It appears that US Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) thought it would be a fantastic idea to throw a pizza party at the US Capitol on Tuesday night following his historic defeat in his bid to become Speaker of the US House.

And it looked that his questionable action had no effect on his vote totals.

Wednesday, the House remains in the midst of its fourth vote and looks to have failed to agree on a speaker for a second time. McCarthy has lost enough votes to Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Florida, to need a new vote, according to a Wednesday NPR story.

Here’s the current situation:

• Rep. Chip Roy of Texas rose to nominate Florida Rep. Byron Donalds for speaker, calling him “a dear friend, a solid conservative.”
• Democrats have again unanimously nominated Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., as their speaker.
• McCarthy, R-Calif., has wanted to be Speaker — badly — for years and seemed willing to do a lot of things to get the job.

Early on, Donalds secured five votes, indicating McCarthy will not have a fourth opportunity to obtain the 218 votes he needs to achieve a majority.

A few isolated applauses and a louder murmur filled the room when the fifth vote for Donald was recorded.

CNN reported on a North Carolina RINO who was assisting McCarthy vigorously:

As House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy tries to obtain votes within his party to clinch the speakership of the house, he has hired a veteran Republican congressman to attempt to get support from GOP holdouts in a stealthy manner.

Patrick McHenry, a Republican and McCarthy supporter from North Carolina, is one of many members who have been despatched to help McCarthy’s opponents reach an agreement and deliver their requests to the rest of the House GOP conference. CNN sources report that Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Garret Graves of Louisiana, French Hill of Arkansas, and Guy Reschenthaler are all attempting to rally other Republicans behind McCarthy.

McHenry stated on Tuesday night that the GOP conference must engage in a “longer process of negotiation”, but he was certain McCarthy will ultimately be elected House speaker. Additionally, he told CNN that there must be “a clear understanding” of the proposals made prior to Tuesday.

“We have to have a wider group of members understand what the trade-offs are, what they look like and the opportunity for the conference to come to terms with getting the 20 on board,” McHenry said, referring to the Republicans who voted against McCarthy on the third ballot Tuesday. “So this is a longer process of negotiation than just a narrow group, talking to a person.”

PIZZA on its way to MCCARTHY office…. Never a good sign pic.twitter.com/ie9jLj9mtc

— Haley Talbot (@haleytalbotnbc) January 3, 2023

More on this story via The Republic Brief:

McHenry, who in November won reelection for his 10th term in North Carolina’s 10th congressional district, was first elected to Congress in 2004. In the new Congress, he has been chosen to chair the House Financial Services Committee, where he has long been a member and held leadership roles, including chairman of the oversight and investigations subcommittee. CONTINUE READING…