VACANT! McCarthy ousted as House Speaker in historic vote
Tuesday vote descends U.S. House into chaos
U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R) was ejected from his job in a historic vote on Capitol Hill Tuesday.
He is the first Speaker in the history of the U.S. Congress to be ousted from his job in such fashion.
The California Republican faced a coup attempt from within his own conference after working with Democrats to keep the government funded through November. Far-right U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Monday filed a motion to declare the Speaker’s office vacant.
Gaetz was able to make this move after McCarthy reduced the threshold required to file a “motion to vacate” from five members to just one. It was part of a long list of concessions Speaker McCarthy made to Gaetz and other far-right members to win the gavel after 15 rounds of voting last January.
McCarthy’s allies reportedly tried reaching out to Democrats to try and extract concessions in exchange for salvaging McCarthy’s speakership. But in the end, every last House Democrat — including all five from Georgia, voted to throw McCarthy overboard.
Tuesday’s vote descends the U.S. House of Representatives into utter chaos. The chamber is unable to orderly conduct business until a new Speaker is chosen. The Speaker of the House is also second in line to the presidency, second only to the Vice President. So McCarthy’s ouster could also raise questions about the presidential line of succession.
McCarthy can run again for Speaker if he chooses to, but it remains to be seen if he or any other Republican will be able to assemble enough votes to win the speakership. McCarthy’s fundraising war chest and near-unanimous support within the GOP conference will also be difficult for any Republican to replicate, which could complicate the party’s path to maintaining control of the lower chamber in 2024.