Jim Jordan will not seek a third vote for now on his bid to become Speaker of the US House of Representatives, as Republicans look to a temporary backup plan, US media reports.
The Trump-backed, right-wing lawmaker is expected to get behind a plan to allow acting Speaker Patrick McHenry to run the House for a month or more.
Mr Jordan decisively lost votes in the chamber on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The lower chamber of Congress has been without a leader for the past 16 days.
Without a Speaker in place, the House is unable to pass bills or vote on an impending White House request for aid to Israel and Ukraine.
Following the unprecedented vote to oust Kevin McCarthy earlier this month, he appointed Mr McHenry, a top ally, as the interim Speaker.
Members of both parties have floated the option of expanding Mr McHenry’s powers to allow him to preside over urgent legislative matters.
But it is far from certain such a plan has enough votes to succeed, with several Republicans – including Mr McHenry himself – having already come out against it.
In a House that Republicans control by only nine seats, that makes it almost certain Democratic votes will be needed to advance the idea.
The opposition party has not yet announced if it will support the plan, with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries saying his Democrats “haven’t had a discussion yet”.
