WASHINGTON Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Thursday evening found his quest to become the 56th speaker of the House exactly where it was when the day began awaiting another vote where he is expected to fall short of the 217 votes needed.

In between, though, he backed a plan to give more power to the temporary speaker who replaced Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), reversed course to back away from that idea, tried to woo holdouts who opposed him, and ultimately delayed a third vote on whether he should become speaker.

We made the pitch to members on the resolution as a way to lower the temperature and get back to work, Jordan told reporters. We decided that wasnt where were going to go.

Now a third vote is not likely until Friday after Jordan lost twice this week amid opposition from more than 20 of his Republican colleagues. Instead, Republicans met for hours in the Capitol basement. At one point, McCarthy reportedly yelled at Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who led the charge for his ouster.

He loses his temper sometimes. Maybe its the Irish in him, Gaetz told reporters. Im glad that we were able to throw cold water on Speaker Light.

Gaetz said the House would likely vote again on Jordan, though its unclear how Jordan could prevail.

Republicans have been leaderless since booting McCarthy from the speakers office earlier this month with nobody to replace him. As a result, the House cant function. As Republicans fail to coalesce around replacements, lawmakers increasingly wonder whether they ought to let Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) run things.

But conservative Republicans immediately denounced the plan to empower McHenry, which would have to be enacted through a resolution on the House floor. Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) told HuffPost his constituents dont want a temporary speaker they want Jordan.

They want somebody that will represent them in a conservative, honest, truthful manner, Crane said. Jim Jordan is my choice, and 87% of my district wants Jim Jordan as speaker.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also blasted the proposal, describing the House Republican conference as absolutely broken.

Another far-right Republican, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), said the fresh chaos only bolstered his case for giving the speakers gavel to former President Donald Trump . (Trump actually cant become speaker under Republicans own rules, given his multiple criminal indictments, but Nehls dismissed that as unimportant.)

The resolution empowering McHenry gets at the heart of the problem facing Republicans. It would pass with Democratic votes, and if it did, the House could pass legislation something many lawmakers consider urgent since the federal government faces a funding deadline and war is breaking out in the Middle East.

But passing bills with Democratic support was what got McCarthy fired in the first place, because a faction of Republicans refuses to accept that Democratic control of the Senate and the White House gives Democrats an equal say in governance.

Nehls expressed disgust at the idea of empowering a temporary speaker through a bipartisan vote.

Hey, American people, I just want to let you know, you gave the Republican conference the ability to lead, you gave us a gavel, youre begging for leadership, Nehls said. But what were going to do is were going to lead by bringing Democrats on board? Sickening, quite honestly.

McHenry himself shot down another idea floated by Republicans on Thursday: that he should take the position he did not need a formal vote to be able to allow bills to be considered and other things a regular speaker can do.

On Thursday night, McHenry told reporters he thought a resolution to empower him was within House rules, but simply acting as if he already had such authority was not.

I wanted people to be clear, though, that some other alternative here is something that I believe is unconstitutional and not conforming with House rules. Furthermore, that I would not participate in any attempt to make that type of change, McHenry said.

McHenry did not confirm a report that he had threatened to resign rather than act as speaker without a formal vote to give him power, but he left little doubt where he stood.

If there is some goal to subvert the House rules to give me powers without a formal vote, I will not accept it, he said.

Republicans will continue to argue among themselves for the foreseeable future.