House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), selected Wednesday as the GOP Conference’s speaker-designee, withdrew his designation Thursday night. It had become clear he couldn’t rally enough of his colleagues to give him the gavel in a full House vote, as The New York Times reported.

There’s frustration among many Republicans who want to get back to a House to-do list that includes the defense authorization bill, avoiding another potential government shutdown in mid-November and approving Ukraine aid.

The list got longer after Hamas attacked Israel over the weekend in the first round of what may be a protracted conflict the House is currently unable to address. House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said the leadership chaos is getting in the way of even a symbolic response to Hamas.

“One of the biggest threats I see is in that room, because we can’t unify as a conference and put a speaker in the chair to govern,” McCaul said outside a Republican meeting, according to Newsweek. “I can’t get my resolution of 416 co-sponsors condemning Hamas and supporting Israel without a speaker in the chair.”

Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said he’d be willing to work with Democrats to elect a speaker, “but they gotta tell us what they need,” he added, according to Forbes.

The House GOP Conference is meeting again Friday morning, but Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, seemed to believe the standoff will continue.

“[Scalise] won fair and square, and yet we had people who refused to vote for him [in a floor vote],” Bacon said. “If you reward bad behavior, you’re going to get more of it.”

DOD photo of Chairman Rogers, right, by Air Force TSgt. Jack Sanders