McCarthy is meeting behind closed doors in the Capitol with some of his closest allies and members of the opposition to try to hammer out an agreement.

Members are coming and going from the huddle, and despite hours of discussions, the two sides appear no closer to a deal.

“I’m just saying we listened. You know the devil’s in the details,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a vocal McCarthy critic, said as he left the meeting.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, another McCarthy opponent, said he is “open to whatever will give me the power to defend my constituents against this godforsaken city.” Among other things, Roy pointed to Congress’ last-minute passage of a $1.7 trillion spending bill last month that avoided a government shutdown. “That bill is just exactly what is wrong with this place.”

Roy said a big focus of the meeting is working through some “misunderstandings” between the two sides.

McCarthy's allies and opponents are huddling together behind closed doors ahead of another vote expected later Wednesday night.

On the pro-McCarthy side, NBC News has spotted Reps. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Dusty Johnson of South Dakota and Jason Smith of Missouri. On the anti-McCarthy side, Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Chip Roy of Texas and Matt Gaetz of Florida entered the meeting room, the Capitol office of Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnestoa. 

McHenry sounded a positive note, telling reporters when he emerged, “It’s too early to tell, but the tone of the conversation is good, and that is a very healthy thing.”

“I mean, the goal here is to get a Republican elected with Republican votes,” he added.

Asked whether there’d been any progress in the meeting, Luna, who has repeatedly voted against McCarthy, told reporters, “We’ll find out.”

Gaetz, meanwhile, said he wants McCarthy to drop his speaker bid. 

The House is scheduled to go back in session at 8 p.m. ET.

After six failed attempts to install McCarthy as speaker of the House, a majority of Republicans continue to stand by his nomination even as more than a dozen members of their own party backed Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., instead.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., a McCarthy supporter, says now is the time to have a decadeslong debate within the Republican Party “out in the open” as frustrations broil with fellow members of his party who he says are delaying the start to the legislative agenda.

“A lot of those guys have never served in a legislative body before,” Comer, who would likely chair the House Oversight Committee in the new Congress, said in an interview on “Meet the Press NOW.” “They’ve never been in the majority. So they don’t understand that no one’s ever going to get 100% of what you want. You just have to make your best case and fight for the best deal you can get.”

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McCarthy appeared optimistic Wednesday afternoon about his ability to win the speaker's gavel, telling reporters that his strategy is to "work through it, get everybody together and solve our problems."

Asked whether he was confident he could reach the votes needed after having fallen short six times, McCarthy responded: "Yeah, very."

"We have 90% of the votes," McCarthy added. "I’ve never seen a body where 10% is going to control the 90%. It just doesn’t happen that way."

Twenty of McCarthy's conservative colleagues opposed him for the speakership in three consecutive votes Wednesday, backing GOP Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida each time.

State Department spokesman Ned Price reacted Wednesday to the House GOP's repeated failure to elect a speaker.

"Our message has never been that democracy is neat or that democracy is seamless. They are seeing our institutions at work," Price said at the State Department news briefing.

Price said that the world is seeing democracy at work on Capitol Hill and that it "isn't always without its complications."

The House adjourned Wednesday evening after having spent a second consecutive day holding votes on multiple ballots for House speaker. Members are set to return at 8 p.m.

McCarthy has so far failed to reach the necessary threshold to become speaker in six ballots over Tuesday and Wednesday.

The third speaker vote of the day ended the same way for McCarthy — with 20 Republicans voting for Donalds and another voting "present."

McCarthy gained no ground in his bid for the top House job throughout the day, despite negotiations by his allies Tuesday night and into the day Wednesday, as well a rallying social media post in the morning by his top ally, former President Donald Trump.

In all, McCarthy had the same number of votes in all three ballots and one less than he did at the end of Tuesday, thanks to Rep. Victoria Spartz's deciding to vote "present."

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., criticized his former GOP colleagues Wednesday, tweeting, "The world can now see what we had to deal with for years."

Kinzinger, who chose not to seek re-election last year after having gained prominence as a top GOP Trump critic, was responding to comments made by Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas.

"These f------ people ... now they're just being clowns," said Crenshaw, a McCarthy ally, according to freelance journalist Matt Laslo.