Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) added a new name to the House speaker fight on Thursday, voting for former President Trump on the 7th ballot.
Why it matters: This is a break from the unified faction of 20 House Republicans who'd been voting for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida) and blocking GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy from winning the speakership.
- Nothing in the Constitution requires the speaker to be a sitting member of Congress, though that has been the case throughout U.S history.
- Trump himself has endorsed McCarthy for speaker and has been unable to sway the GOP rebels, many of who consider themselves the former president's biggest supporters.