In an unprecedented turn of events, Kevin McCarthy, who had recently led a successful bipartisan effort to avoid a government shutdown, was abruptly removed from his role as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives on Tuesday. This shocking development came at the hands of hard-right members within his own Republican party, less than a year after his election.
This marks a historic moment in American politics, as it is the first time in U.S. history that a Speaker of the House has been removed from office. McCarthy’s tenure as the California Republican leader has been short and tumultuous, reflecting the current low levels of public confidence in Congress and the federal government.
The infighting among Republicans has effectively brought the House of Representatives to a standstill until a new Speaker is elected. McCarthy announced on Tuesday night that he would not seek re-election as Speaker, opening the door for a new Republican leader if the party members can come to a consensus.
Republicans are now planning to hold a vote for a new Speaker on the following Wednesday, after a closed-door meeting on October 10th to discuss potential candidates. This power struggle culminated in a vote to oust McCarthy, initiated by Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz. Despite efforts by McCarthy’s Republican allies to block the motion, it ultimately succeeded. In a tense chamber, eight hard-right Republicans joined 208 Democrats in supporting McCarthy’s removal, while 210 Republicans failed to keep him in place. McCarthy needed a simple majority of voting members to retain his position, but he fell short of that threshold. The future of the House leadership now rests on the upcoming vote to select a new Speaker next week.
“The resolution is adopted,” congressman Steve Womack, the Arkansas Republican who presided over the session, announced after the vote. “The office of speaker of the House of the United States House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant.”
After the voting concluded, McCarthy, who had been sitting with his hands folded in his lap, leaned back and let out a wry chuckle, seemingly acknowledging his own situation. Some fellow members approached him to offer handshakes and words of support.
Subsequently, Congressman Patrick McHenry, a Republican from North Carolina, was appointed by McCarthy to serve as the acting Speaker until a new leader is elected for the House. Upon assuming the role, McHenry promptly called for a recess.
“In the opinion of the chair, prior to proceeding to the election of a speaker, it will be prudent to first recess for the relative caucus and conferences to meet and discuss the path forward,” McHenry said. House Republicans met Tuesday evening to regroup and finalize plans to, while Democrats will meet on Wednesday morning.
Some Republican leaders condemned McCarthy’s removal, with former vice-president and current presidential candidate Mike Pence suggesting it would undermine the GOP in the eyes of voters. “Chaos is never America’s strength and it’s never a friend of American families that are struggling,” Pence said at an event in Georgetown.
Former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich dubbed Gaetz an “anti-Republican” and called him “actively destructive to the conservative movement”, urging Republicans to vote to expel Gaetz from the House Republican conference.
Several Republican members of Congress informed CNN that they anticipate a discussion regarding the possible expulsion of Matt Gaetz from the Republican conference as a response to his actions. However, they did not disclose whether they would personally endorse this measure.
The eight Republicans who aligned with Democrats in the vote to remove McCarthy cited various justifications for their decision. Nancy Mace, a congresswoman from South Carolina, voiced her perspective “has not lived up to his word on how the House would operate”, and argued that the chaos in Congress would be worse with McCarthy in charge than without him. “We need a fresh start,” she said.
Tim Burchett of Tennessee told CNN that McCarthy had “said something that I thought belittled me and my belief system” in a phone call. He said he was open to supporting several “honorable men” as McCarthy’s replacement, adding: “They’ve never openly mocked me, anyway.”
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday night to confirm that he wouldn’t seek re-election as Speaker, McCarthy expressed, “I wouldn’t alter a single thing.” He left the speakership with a sense of pride, accomplishment, and optimism, drawing inspiration from Teddy Roosevelt’s quote about those who “fail while daring greatly.” McCarthy even remarked, “I made history, didn’t I?”
He downplayed the significance of the eight Republicans who voted against him, dismissing them as “individuals” with small visions. McCarthy also mentioned his past support for some of these dissenting Republicans, jokingly telling a CNN reporter, “I should have picked somebody else.”
Regarding Matt Gaetz, McCarthy stated that Gaetz had a “personal” vendetta against him, stemming from the Congressional ethics inquiry into Gaetz’s alleged misconduct, drug use, and campaign fund misuse. McCarthy portrayed Gaetz as a non-conservative opportunist seeking attention and campaign donations, even noting that he was receiving email fundraisers from Gaetz.
However, McCarthy attributed a significant portion of the Republican infighting to the opposing party, suggesting, “I think today was a political decision by the Democrats.”
One reason McCarthy opted not to run for Speaker again after being ousted was his reluctance to negotiate with Democrats for the position, according to Republican congressman Kevin Hern.
President Joe Biden urged the House to swiftly elect a new Speaker, emphasizing that the pressing challenges facing the nation couldn’t afford delay, as stated by press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
McCarthy’s removal marks the culmination of a turbulent nine-month period in the House, characterized by conflicts between the Speaker and the hard-right faction within his own conference. Despite his repeated attempts to appease them, McCarthy’s willingness to collaborate with Democrats to avert economic chaos ultimately sealed his fate. With a razor-thin majority in the House, Republicans now face the daunting challenge of electing a leader capable of garnering nearly unanimous support within a deeply divided conference.
Matt Gaetz initiated the move to oust McCarthy after the Speaker cooperated with House Democrats to pass a stopgap spending bill, extending government funding until November 17th. Gaetz also accused McCarthy of engaging in a “secret side deal” with Joe Biden regarding additional funding for Ukraine, a source of outrage among conservative circles. McCarthy vehemently denied the existence of any such secret agreement.
Both the House and the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed the stopgap bill with bipartisan support, averting a government shutdown that could have left hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay for an extended period.
Ahead of the vote to remove McCarthy, some Republican House members publicly criticized Gaetz, referring to him in interviews with CNN as a “chaos agent” and questioning whether he was acting out of ignorance or dishonesty. Concerns were raised that Gaetz’s maneuver might jeopardize the Republican majority in the House.
Tuesday’s historic vote marked the first time a House Speaker had been removed in over a century and the first successful such vote in American history. Previous House Speakers, including former Republican leader John Boehner, had faced threats of motions to vacate but had never undergone a full-scale removal effort.
The vote starkly underscored McCarthy’s precarious hold on the Speaker’s gavel, particularly since he needed 15 rounds of voting to secure the House speakership in January. McCarthy had always struggled to secure the support of many Republicans on his right, and some of his fellow party members felt that he had not negotiated sufficiently advantageous concessions in the deal that averted the shutdown.
“The speaker fought through 15 votes in January to become speaker, but was only willing to fight through one failed [continuing resolution] before surrendering to the Democrats on Saturday,” Bob Good, a Republican congressman from Virginia, said in a floor speech on Tuesday. “We need a speaker who will fight for something, anything besides just staying or becoming speaker.”
Prior to McCarthy receiving the news of his fate on Tuesday, Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, had signaled that his caucus would not come to McCarthy’s aid to preserve his position. Ultimately, when the time came, every House Democrat in attendance cast their votes in favor of removing McCarthy from his role.
“House Democrats remain willing to find common ground on an enlightened path forward. Unfortunately, our extreme Republican colleagues have shown no willingness to do the same,” Jeffries said in a “Dear Colleague” letter sent Tuesday. “Given their unwillingness to break from [Make America Great Again] extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican Motion to Vacate the Chair.”
Following the removal of the Speaker, all legislative activity in the House will come to a standstill until a new leader is chosen.
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Pramila Jayapal, the Washington state representative and chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, expressed to CNN that during McCarthy’s tenure and the Republican majority, the House had been marked by “persistent chaos, not to mention the division, polarization, and racism. We do not derive any satisfaction from this situation.”
