The Republican nominee to lead the US House of Representatives, Louisiana congressman Steve Scalise, has announced he is dropping out after failing to find enough votes to win the election.
Mr Scalise had secured his party's nomination to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy but was still short of the 217 votes needed to be elected on the house floor, as several of his fellow Republicans said they would not support him.
Mr Scalise had spent all day yesterday trying to put together the 217 votes he needed to win but resistance only grew during the day, as more and more Republicans said in public they would not vote for him.
Some said he was too right wing, while others said he was not right wing enough.
Some said they wanted to vote for Jim Jordan, a candidate backed by former president Donald Trump, who had narrowly lost a parliamentary party vote to Mr Scalise the day before.
Mr Jordan appeared to be the favorite of populist minded hardliners, while others, including Mr Trump, raised doubts about Mr Scalise's ability to do the job because he is undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer.
Despite this, in a radio interview on Fox News, Mr Trump said he did not object to Mr Scalise as speaker.
"Steve is a man that is in serious trouble from the standpoint of his cancer. I mean, he's got to get better for himself," he said.
It was just after midnight Irish time when Mr Scalise told his parliamentary party meeting he could not get enough votes, and was withdrawing from the contest.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Scalise said: "If you look at over the last few weeks, if you look at where our conference is, there is still work to be done...There are still some people that have their own agendas."
Mr Scalise's decision to drop out of the race came as the party failed to resolve its divisions, prolonging the leadership crisis in the chamber.
Republicans could afford no more than four defections as they control the house by a narrow 221-212 margin if they wanted to end the leaderless bout that has already lasted nine days.
The Republican infighting has left the chamber unable to act to support Israel's war against Palestinian militants of Hamas, as well as support for Ukraine, and pass government spending bills before funding runs out on 17 November.
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Republicans had been hoping to avoid a repeat of what happened in January, when hardline conservatives forced Mr McCarthy to endure 15 floor votes over four days before his win.
Mr Jordan has encouraged his supporters to vote for Mr Scalise, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
While Mr McCarthy was the first speaker to be removed in a formal vote, the last two Republicans to hold the job wound up leaving under pressure from party hardliners.
Mr Scalise, 58, gained status within Republican circles by surviving a severe gunshot wound after a gunman opened fire during practice for a charity baseball game in 2017.
He also commands widespread respect as a veteran legislator, who has spent years in party leadership positions.
With international and domestic crises that need money and legislative time, and another government shutdown over a budget row just a month away, the pressure is on to find another candidate who can unite the warring factions in the Republican party, and take charge of the House of Representatives.
Additional reporting Reuters
