Representative Jim Jordan won the Republican nomination to lead the US House of Representatives on Friday, but the hardline conservative appeared to be well short of the support he would need to seize the speaker's gavel.
Successive closed-door votes left Jordan with the backing of a majority of House Republicans, but still shy of the 217 votes he would need to win the job.
Republicans then said they would go home for the weekend, ensuring the House would remain without a leader until at least Monday.
Republican infighting has left the House paralyzed for close to two weeks, as lawmakers have deadlocked over a successor to Kevin McCarthy, who was forced out by a small group of Republicans on October 3.
In an initial vote, Jordan won the endorsement over Austin Scott, a Georgia lawmaker who has kept a relatively low profile in his 12 years in Congress. The vote was 124-81, according to a Republican aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Jordan did not pick up much more support in a second round of voting, which he won 152-55, according to lawmakers, meaning that about one in four House Republicans cast a ballot purely against Jordan.
That left him short of the votes he would need to become speaker, a powerful role second in line to the presidency after the vice president.
Republicans control the chamber by a narrow 221-212 margin, meaning they can afford to lose no more than four votes if Democrats vote against him, as they are expected to do.
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