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Hello and welcome back to our coverage as the US House of Representatives continues in its attempt to elect a Speaker.

There have so far been six failed attempts as a group of hard-line Republicans have refused repeatedly to support party leader Kevin McCarthy. Today they will likely try for a seventh time after McCarthy reportedly made late night promises in exchange for votes.

Tomorrow, 6 January, marks two years since the attack on the US Capitol and our coverage today will reflect how the echoes of the riot are still impacting Congress.

Stay tuned while we keep you updated in what could be another chaotic afternoon. We'll be streaming live at the top of the page.

We'll be back on Thursday as the House of Representatives tries for a third day to break the historic impasse that has left it leaderless and unable to carry out basic functions such as passing bills.

Today's live coverage was brought to you by Anthony Zurcher, Holly Honderich, Kayla Epstein, Bernd Debusmann, Chloe Kim, Adam Durbin, Gem O’Reilly, Samuel Horti and Marianna Brady.

Holly Honderich
BBC News, on Capitol Hill

Image source, Getty Images

The US House of Representatives is, technically, empty.

At the start of each term, lawmakers need to be sworn in before they assume their duties.

But before that, they must pick a Speaker, which they've failed to do so far after six votes. A seventh vote looms on Thursday.

It's a good reminder of how disruptive this political battle actually is.

Until the House successfully picks a speaker, this arm of the American government is essentially paralysed.

Image source, Getty Images

Republican congressman Mike Waltz says the hubbub in the House is hurting America's reputation around the world.

"In North Korea, in Iran, in Venezuela, in Cuba, authoritarian regimes all over the world are pointing to what's going on in the House of Representatives and saying, 'look at the messiness of democracy, look at how it doesn't work, how it can't function,'" he told media on Wednesday.

He also quoted Chinese state media the Global Times, which called the voting mayhem "not a simple farce but a political thriller".

The Beijing daily also opined it was "unclear whether the political class of the [US] is able to govern and whether the internal conflicts and contradictions of one of the major political parties contaminate the entire system".

The House has just voted to adjourn until noon tomorrow.

It comes after all Democrats and four Republicans - Andy Biggs, Lauren Boebert, Eli Crane and Matt Gaetz - voted to keep the session going.

The final count was 216 to 214.

If the motion to adjourn had not passed, the House would have proceeded to a seventh vote for speaker tonight.

The House is now taking a roll-call vote on whether to end business for the day and adjourn.

Democrats are voting against the motion, using a procedural delay tactic that has often by employed by Republicans over the last two years.

Emerging from a meeting to speak to reporters, Kevin McCarthy suggested no deal had been reached and there was no reason to hold another vote tonight.

"I think it’s probably best that people work through some more," he said.

"I don’t think a vote tonight does any difference, but I think a vote in the future will."

He added that another vote tonight would not be "productive".

The House is now reconvening and is expected to motion to adjourn until midday local time on Thursday.

It's now 20:00 in Washington and the House is due to gather, but it's uncertain whether there will be another vote for speaker tonight.

Here's the latest:

• California Republican Kevin McCarthy has been seen consulting with his aides and holding discussions with other lawmakers on the floor of the House
• So far, he has failed to secure the necessary 218 votes after six rounds of voting, and actually lost by an even larger margin after one Republican lawmaker switched her vote to "present' in the last round
• There are 20 Republican holdouts who continue to back another nominee for speaker despite a plea from Donald Trump to "close the deal, take the victory”, and to “not turn a great triumph into a giant & embarrassing defeat”
• President Joe Biden has called the situation a global embarrassment, during a trip to Kentucky with top Republican Mitch McConnell
• No lawmaker can be sworn in until a speaker is chosen, and no congressional business can be conducted
• Voting is already on its second day. For first time in nearly 100 years on Tuesday, a speaker wasn't picked on the first vote

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For anyone not steeped in the internal workings of the US Congress, here's a quick primer on what the various political leaders actually do in the House of Representatives:

Speaker of the House

The speaker is the most senior member of the House of Representatives, acting as the de facto leader of their party there, and second in line to take over the presidency, after the vice president.

As the House's presiding officer, the speaker's job theoretically is to listen to debates, control the order in which members of Congress speak in the chamber, and respond to questions or objections about the rules from politicians (known as points of order).

In reality, this role is often delegated to less senior colleagues - with the speaker presiding over major debates.

The speaker also helps shape the membership of Congressional committees, which scrutinise policy and key issues facing the government, and set the rules over how the House functions.

House majority and minority leaders

These are key leadership positions within Congressional cohorts, which often referred to as caucuses. They are responsible for setting the legislative agendas for their respective parties.

This means they are in charge of deciding how members of Congress, Republican or Democrat, should vote on proposed laws - as well as helping to set the policy positions for their party.

The majority or minority designation relates to whether they are from the larger or smaller party in Congress, and the majority leader often overlaps significantly in their role with the speaker.

Whips

The whips for the both the minority and majority in Congress are responsible for what people call party discipline, which means they are in charge of ensuring members from their party vote along party lines.

This could come in the form of compulsion or negotiation with any potentially rebellious members of Congress. This internal political wrangling is rarely done publicly.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from New York

Image source, Getty Images

If used effectively, the position of speaker of the House is one of the most powerful in Washington.

Depending on the partisan makeup of Congress, the speaker can make or break a US president's agenda, hinder the opposition and spearhead their party's biggest legislative initiatives.

The US Constitution established the role of speaker of the House to oversee the lower chamber of Congress. The Senate is the upper chamber.

The speaker is both traditionally and historically a sitting member of the majority party in the House. But this is not a constitutional requirement.

Because the speaker has always come from the majority, he or she is also that party's leader in the chamber, in addition to leading the House of Representatives.

The speaker of the House has near-total control over the chamber. They set the House's legislative agenda, control committee assignments, set the vote and work calendar, and are responsible for keeping their party members unified behind major initiatives.

You can read more about the history and power of the Speaker's position in our explainer.

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A group of Republican rebels is meeting Kevin McCarthy and other party members in a bid to break the deadlock.

According to BBC's US broadcasting partner CBS, negotiators from both sides walked into the office of the party's whip, Tom Emmer.

Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert were among those representing McCarthy's challengers.

Outside the room, Gaetz was asked by reporters if any candidate could get the 218 votes needed to become Speaker.

"I know who can't get 218," Gaetz replied. "Kevin McCarthy."

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President Joe Biden condemned the Republican infighting as "a little embarrassing" before departing for a visit to Kentucky and Ohio on Wednesday.

But speaking to reporters from an airport tarmac in Hebron, Kentucky, he stepped up his criticism.

Asked if he was concerned about the lack of a functioning US legislature, he responded: "Obviously I am.

"For two reasons. One, it's embarrassing for the country. And I mean literally.

"To be able to have a Congress that can't function is just embarrassing. We're the greatest country in the world. How can that be?

"And we've had a lot of trouble with the attacks on our institutions already."

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from New York

A historic third vote for speaker was playing out on the House floor, but Hodge Gomez was not impressed. In fact, he was asleep.

The four-month-old son of California congressman Jimmy Gomez napped while his father took part in round after round of votes. He was alert for the most important part of the action, though: network cameras at one point captured a chubby-cheeked Hodge wriggling in a sling strapped to his father’s chest, as the congressman cast his vote.

“He loved it,” Gomez said of his son’s very first brush with American democracy. “I thought it was amazing, it was a special moment for me.”

Gomez brought tiny Hodge, along with his wife, parents, five siblings and cousins thousands of miles across the country to watch him take the oath of office. He packed their itinerary full of tours of the White House, Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall.

While his relatives hit the tourist trail, Gomez wound up changing nappies in a House office between votes.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

At this point, resignation appears to be setting in at the House of Representatives.

For the sixth straight time, Kevin McCarthy did not have enough votes to become Speaker of the House. And for the third straight time, the vote tally was exactly the same.

Where the House goes from here is anyone's guess.

The latest list of demands coming from the recalcitrant 20 Republicans who have voted for someone other than McCarthy include plum committee assignments and greater representation for the chamber’s hardcore conservatives in the party's House leadership groups.

The chamber has now voted to adjourn until later this evening. Whether Republicans in the intervening time can come up with an agreement on speaker is far from certain.

One thing is clear, however. The chances of McCarthy winning the gavel today – or ever – seem lower than they did even this morning.

House members have just voted to adjourn until 20:00EST (01:00GMT).

It comes after a sixth round of voting again failed to elect a speaker.

And we have the sixth final tally confirmed, with no change once again from the previous three ballots to elect a Speaker.

The final vote count was:

• Kevin McCarthy - 201
• Hakeem Jeffries - 212
• Byron Donalds - 20
• Present (abstain) - 1

Following McCarthy's defeat in the sixth round of voting reports are emerging that Republicans want to adjourn until 20:00 EST (01:00 GMT for any readers struggling to sleep in the UK) - presumably so they can bash out a deal over dinner and settle the deadlock once and for all.

There's also a chance they steamroll straight into a seventh round of voting. Or, they might adjourn for the day. It's around the time they called it quits last night, so that could happen too.

Stay tuned...

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Yet again, Kevin McCarthy appears to have failed to garner the votes necessary to become House Speaker.

So far, 20 Republicans have voted for his primary opponent, Florida's Byron Donalds. One has voted 'present' - essentially abstaining from the vote.

The figure means he has been unable to sway any of the dissident members of his party over to his side since the previous round of voting.

Holly Honderich
BBC News, on Capitol Hill

Image source, Getty Images

Kevin McCarthy appears to have left the chamber as the roll-call vote ticks on. He'll have to return soon if he plans to cast a vote for himself once again.

His two deputies, Louisiana's Steve Scalise and New York's Elise Stefanik, have stayed put. For the sixth time, Stefanik seems to be taking careful tally of the votes. And - also for the sixth time - that tally does not look good for McCarthy.

Matt Gaetz, a ringleader in the anti-McCarthy group, is working the room, at one point speaking intently with Jim Jordan, who has so far remained loyal to McCarthy.