Republicans in the US House of Representatives have failed for a second straight day to elect a leader as a faction of holdouts repeatedly defies former President Donald Trump’s call to unite behind his ally Kevin McCarthy.

After three failed votes and a round of closed-door talks, Mr McCarthy appeared no closer to securing the post of House Speaker, a powerful job second in the line of succession to the presidency, late on Wednesday (local time)

Lawmakers voted to go home for the night and try again on Thursday.

• Humiliation as McCarthy loses yet another speaker vote

The stalemate raised questions about Republicans’ ability to govern during the next two years as they stumbled over what is usually a routine vote at the outset of a legislative session.

House members must first name a leader before swearing in individual members and taking up legislative business.

Mr McCarthy, from California, has served as the top House Republican since 2019 and led his party’s successful effort to win control of the chamber in the 2022 midterm elections.

But he has fallen short in six straight votes in two days. A group of 20 hardline conservatives have deemed him ideologically unreliable and refuse to back him, leaving him short of the 218 votes needed to win the job.

Mr McCarthy’s supporters grew increasingly frustrated as the day wore on.

“You have 20 people demanding that 201 surrender to them unconditionally. Well, I will not surrender unconditionally,” Republican Representative Trent Kelly said.

The leadership fight has provided a dismaying start for the new Republican majority in the House after the party managed to secure a slim 222-212 majority in November’s elections.

The last time the House failed to elect a speaker on the first ballot was in 1923, during a contest that took nine ballots to resolve.

Mr McCarthy said he was making progress.

“I don’t think voting tonight does any difference but I think voting in the future will,” he said after meeting opponents.

His supporters had hoped repeated votes would wear down opponents but as the day progressed with no sign of headway, Republican faith in Mr McCarthy’s success appeared to be flagging.

“At some point, there will be a Speaker and it will be a Republican,” Representative Tom Cole predicted.

Other names floated as possibilities included No.2 House Republican Steve Scalise and Representative Jim Jordan – who received 20 votes when nominated on Tuesday.

Both said they backed Mr McCarthy.

The possibility of the House electing a Republican Speaker with Democratic help appeared to gain traction.

Progressive Democrat Ro Khanna said he could support a moderate Republican who would agree to share subpoena power with Democrats and avoid brinkmanship over government funding and the debt ceiling.

He cited House Republicans Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike Gallagher and Dave Joyce as possibilities.

Mr McCarthy secured only 201 votes of the 218 needed, while 20 Republicans voted on Wednesday for Representative Byron Donalds, a Republican first elected in 2020.

One Republican declined to back a specific candidate. All 212 of the chamber’s Democrats voted for one of their own, Hakeem Jeffries.

Opponents said the leadership fight could drag on for weeks.

“It’s worth taking a few days or a few weeks to get the best possible Speaker,” said Republican Representative Bob Good, one of the holdouts.

The vote was also a rebuke of Mr Trump, who urged fellow Republicans to set aside their differences.

“It’s now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN,” Mr Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social on Wednesday ahead of the day’s votes.

-AAP