House stalemate still holds back choice of a new speaker

Lisa Mascaro

and Farnoush Amiri

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Pressure mounting, the House opened with the prime speaker's chair empty for a third day today, as Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed repeatedly to win enough votes from his party to become House speaker.

McCarthy emerged from a morning meeting with colleagues at the Capitol determined to persuade Republican holdouts to end the stalemate that has blighted his new GOP majority.

But despite endless talks, signs of concessions and a public spectacle unlike any other in recent political memory, the path ahead remained highly uncert...