US President Barack Obama's administration has suspended efforts to win congressional approval for the Trans-Pacific Partnership before president-elect Donald Trump takes office, saying the TPP's fate is up to Trump and Republicans.

Administration officials also said Obama would try to explain the situation to leaders of the 11 other countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact next week when he attends a regional summit in Peru.

Obama's cabinet secretaries and the US Trade Representative's office had been lobbying lawmakers for months to pass the 12-country TPP deal in the post- election, lame-duck session of congress. However, Trump's election victory, which sends him to the White House in January and retains Republican majorities in congress, has stymied those plans.

President-elect Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., pose for photographers after a meeting in the Speaker's office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) AP

"We have worked closely with congress to resolve outstanding issues and are ready to move forward, but this is a legislative process and it's up to congressional leaders as to whether and when this moves forward," USTR spokesman Matt McAlvanah said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would not take up the TPP in the weeks before Trump's inauguration and said its fate was now up to Trump. House Speaker Paul Ryan had earlier said he would not proceed with a lame-duck vote.