Republicans have removed Jim Jordan as the party’s nominee for Speaker, after he lost three successive votes in the US House of Representatives.
The right-wing lawmaker was defeated in a secret ballot of colleagues following his failure to win a majority on the House floor on Friday morning.
Republicans now must scramble to find a solution, and the House will be in recess until Monday.
The chamber has been without an official Speaker for over two weeks.
The Republicans’ slim majority over Democrats in the chamber meant Mr Jordan could only afford to lose a handful of votes if he wanted to clinch the speakership.
Three rounds of balloting showed eroding support for Mr Jordan’s candidacy this week.
On Friday, the number of Republicans refusing to back him reached 25, up from 22 in Wednesday’s first round of votes. He needed 215 to secure the Speaker’s gavel.
After his third defeat, Republicans reconvened to decide whether they would keep him as their nominee. A majority voted to remove him.
Some lawmakers exited the secret vote appearing defeated or dejected. Others were openly angry and frustrated as they moved through the tunnels beneath the Capitol, with Rep Dusty Johnson of South Dakota saying: “How incredibly irresponsible it was for 208 Democrats and eight Republicans to put this House in absolute chaos without any kind of plan for how we were going to move forward.”
“This is a time where we need people who are interested in problem-solving, not self-aggrandizement,” he told reporters.
One lawmaker, Rep Chip Roy, shrugged it off as a display of the tough decisions surrounding choosing a Speaker for the House.
“We’re laying this all out in public and the American people can see it. It is the sausage getting made,” Mr Roy said.
After being removed as his party’s choice to become Speaker of the House, Mr Jordan told reporters that Republican House members must unite behind one candidate and end the body’s paralysis.
“It’s important we do unite. Let’s figure out who that individual is, get behind him and get to work for the American people,” Mr Jordan said. (BBC)