For the first time in about 100 years, the ruling party in the House of Representatives failed to elect a speaker in the first round of voting, thereby delaying the orderly transfer of power in Congress.
Republican Kevin McCarthy lost in the first round following a rebellion in the party's ranks by activists who see him as insufficiently worthy and loyal to its right-wing ideological line.
As a result, Nancy Pelosi - the leader of the Democrats - remained chairman for many hours and in fact the transfer of power in Congress was delayed.
The election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives - who is second in line to the presidential succession - is possible only if there is an absolute majority - that is, 218 of the 435 legislators in the house. McCarthy did obtain the most votes, but not enough.
A second round was held a short time later, but neither candidate achieved an absolute majority.
Among the candidates who ran against him is the Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, who is not expected to get an absolute majority because the Democrats do not have enough legislators, but may win symbolically.
Lawmakers quickly moved on to a second ballot, with McCarthy again appearing unlikely to prevail.
McCarthy had served as the House minority leader and sought to become speaker, a position second in the line of succession to the US presidency, only to draw strong opposition from his party's right flank.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries outran McCarthy by 212 to 203 votes in the first vote, as 19 Republicans opted for a different candidate.
McCarthy's conservative Republican rival, Representative Andy Biggs, garnered 10 votes.
A majority of those voting, not a plurality, is needed to determine a speaker.
The path for McCarthy remained complicated, as popular conservative Representative Jim Jordan sought to rally support for the California Republican only to find himself put forward as a rival by a McCarthy opponent.
"We need to rally around him," Jordan said in an impassioned speech on the House floor.
"I think Kevin McCarthy's the right guy to lead us."
Hardline conservative Representative Matt Gaetz then nominated Jordan, who quickly attracted enough Republican votes to deny McCarthy victory on the second ballot.
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