Things got pretty intense in Congress yesterday.

That's where we're starting the Seven from the Washington Post.

I'm Jeff Pierre. It's Thursday January 5th.

Let's get you caught up with today's 7 stories.

Number 1. The House failed to elect a speaker for the second day in a row. It was a late and chaotic night on the

House floor. After Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed three more times

yesterday to get enough votes, members voted to adjourn.

On this vote, on this vote, the yeas are 200,

on this vote the yeas are 216,

the nays are 216. The nays are 214.

Accordingly, the motion is adopted.

Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until noon tomorrow. A group of

hard-right Republican holdouts are blocking his election. Until they get this

sorted out and choose a new speaker, the House is at a standstill.

New members still aren't sworn in and nothing can get done.

So what's next?

Probably more chaos.

The House will vote again today, but there's no clear agreement on a path forward.

Benedict the 16th funeral was this morning at the Vatican.

That's story number two.

The ceremony used a mix of ancient rituals and new precedents.

Pope Francis led the mass. It was the first time a sitting

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