But the vote was very close: the arch-conservative representative from the southern state of Louisiana got 113 votes, the right-wing hardliner Jim Jordan got 99 votes. Several Republicans subsequently announced that they would not vote for Scalise in the plenary session. Because the conservatives only have a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, Scalise could only afford a few dissenters in his own ranks.

Scalise tried throughout Thursday to change the minds of doubters in his own ranks - apparently without success. “I have just informed my colleagues that I am withdrawing my name as a candidate for chairman-designate,” said the 58-year-old in the evening.

This means that the House of Representatives remains paralyzed for the time being - at a time when the US government wants to decide on further military aid for Israel and Ukraine and prevent a budget freeze looming in mid-November. McCarthy was overthrown on October 3rd in the wake of a revolt by right-wing hardliners in his own party. The background was the dispute over the US budget and new aid to Ukraine.