US Republican Tom DeLay, under indictment in Texas, told fellow House of Representatives Republicans today that he will not try to reclaim his job as majority leader, congressional sources said.
His spokesman Kevin Madden added that Mr DeLay would retain his seat in the House and is "running for re-election," in November.
Sean Spicer, a spokesman for the House Republican Conference, said party leaders had received a letter from Mr DeLay today informing them of his decision to step down.
In September, the Texas Republican required to step aside temporarily from the No. 2 leadership job after he was indicted in Texas on money laundering and conspiracy charges related to a campaign finance case.
Since then, Mr DeLay has insisted that he would retake his powerful majority leader's job in the House as soon as he was cleared of those charges.
But additional questions about his close relationship with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who this week pleaded guilty to fraud charges, caused several House Republicans to call for DeLay's permanent removal.
Mr Spicer said there still was no decision on when House members will vote for their next majority leader.
The House comes back into session on January 31st.