Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., left, and Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., right, speaks with Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in the House chamber as the House meets for a second day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. (AP Photo / Alex Brandon)

For a fourth, fifth and sixth time, Republicans tried to vote McCarthy into the top job as the House plunged deeper into disarray.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., emerges from a closed-door meeting with the GOP Conference as he pursues the speaker of the House role as the 118th Congress convenes, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. Detractors in the conservative House Freedom Caucus were making demands on McCarthy for in turn for their support. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

Republican leader Kevin McCarthy had pledged a “battle on the floor” for as long as it takes to overcome right-flank fellow Republicans who were refusing to give him their votes. But it was not at all clear how the embattled GOP leader could rebound after becoming the first House speaker nominee in 100 years to fail to win the gavel from his fellow party members on the initial vote.

Outgoing Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Jan. 1, 2023, he fears for the future of the country if former President Donald Trump isn’t charged with a crime related to the Jan. 6, 2021. (CNN)

Outgoing Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Sunday he fears for the future of the country if former President Donald Trump isn’t charged with a crime related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, though he believes the Justice Department will “do the right thing.”

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at the Delaware County Fairgrounds, Saturday, April 23, 2022, in Delaware, Ohio, to endorse Republican candidates ahead of the Ohio primary on May 3. (AP Photo / Joe Maiorana, File)

Donald Trump’s post-presidency enters a new phase this month as voters across the U.S. begin weighing the candidates he elevated to pursue a vision of a Republican Party steeped in hardline populism, culture wars and denial of his loss in the 2020 campaign.

In this March 9, 2020, photo, Rep. Marie Newman campaigns in Chicago. (AP Photo / Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

An investigative report from the Office of Congressional Ethics released Monday detailed a “substantial reason to believe” that Newman promised federal employment to a political opponent.

Lawmakers in the Illinois House on Thursday approved an emergency one-month budget which passed on July 1 in the Senate with no Republican support. But a pass in the House may not resolve the budget impasse, as Gov. Bruce Rauner has vowed to veto the temporary spending plan.

The Illinois House failed to approve a bill that would have delayed CPS’ massive pension payment due at the end of the month. Chicago Tonight Springfield reporter Amanda Vinicky has the latest on that and why the Governor’s office skipped a House and Revenue Finance Committee meeting.

Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, joins us. View a timeline of his career.

From congressman to convict -- to congressional candidate? Paris Schutz has more on why former Congressman Mel Reynolds wants his old seat back.