sans speaker. kevin mccarthy failing again on a fifth ballot to capture the necessary number of votes, the number of opponents among house republicans has actually gone up from 19 to 20, to 21. now republicans are looking for a way out, an exit strategy. is that tossing mccarthy to the curb? is that brokering a deal with democrats to lower the vote? they have to get these 23 rebels on board. me melanie zanona is with us. what s happening here? reporter: republicans are searching for an offramp as it s become clear that kevin mccarthy s efforts to win over his opposition not working. i m told republicans have approached democrats on the house floor and tried to feel them out to see, what would it take for you to vote present or not show up? we re told these are informal conver conversations. it s still early. democrats said they would not bail out mccarthy, but they would be willing to talk about a consensus candidate. we ll see. the fact that republicans are even thinking a
house republicans as was the indication 100 years ago are denying the man who thought he would be speaker in this case, kevin mccarthy, the necessary votes to win the speakers gavel. meaning that, right now, the house is completely paralyzed. we do not have a speaker, official members of congress or rules. and the math is frankly, only getting worse for kevin mccarthy. as the process drags out, the total number of republicans not voting for him is going up. the total number of republicans voting for him is going down. let s go straight to cnn s congressional correspondent manu raju. we re hearing that each side of this republican against republican standoff might appoint four members to negotiate some way forward? that s what sources tell us. that s what s under discussion right now. to come up with some sort of group, a negotiating grope to break the standoff paralyzing the house and preventing the congress from moving forward. four people close to kevin mccarthy. and othe