The United States House of Representatives remained paralyzed Wednesday as the Republican nominee for speaker failed to get enough support in the second voting for the vacant position.

Twenty-two Republicans rejected Jim Jordan, two more than in the first voting a day earlier.

Jordan's tally of 199 votes marked the first time in a century that the majority's nominee had dipped under 200.

The lower chamber of Congress has been in a tailspin since Republican speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted by his party's far right on 3 October — leaving it unable to address a looming government shutdown or war in the Middle East.

"Each day that passes without a speaker of the House is a national security risk," Jordan supporter and California Republican David Valadao said.

Valadao and other colleagues want to push for the limited powers of the current, largely ceremonial caretaker speaker to be expanded, but Jordan's spokesperson, Russell Dye, told reporters the next round of voting is expected on Thursday.

There is momentum behind a push to formally appoint caretaker speaker Patrick McHenry for a limited period of two or three months — expanding his purely ceremonial powers so that he can bring legislation to the floor.

Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries did not publicly commit to backing the move as he headed to a party meeting after voting, although he has not ruled it out.

"We had two objectives coming into this meeting. First objective, to stop Jim Jordan… Second objective is to reopen the House," he said.