On Tuesday, US Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy was removed from the job as a small number of fellow Republicans joined in a step launched by Democrats to dismiss the leader of the House with a 216-210 vote, US media reported.
In its 234-year history, for the first time, the House supported a resolution “to vacate the office of the speaker” placing the stage for an unprecedented competition to substitute Kevin McCarthy a year before the presidential election.
Following his ouster, Representative Matt Gaetz called Kevin McCarthy “a creature of the swamp”.
Gaetz said Tuesday, “He has risen to power by collecting special interest money and redistributing that money in exchange for favors. We are breaking the fever and we should elect a better speaker.”
Representative Patrick McHenry from the Republican party was appointed as acting Speaker from a list designated by McCarthy and shared with the House clerk.
Andy Biggs, Ken Buck, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Nancy Mace, and Matt Rosendale were the Republicans who voted to expel fellow party member McCarthy.
Members in both parties expect that the Speaker pro tempore has the chief accountability of presiding over a new Speaker election.
McCarthy’s eight fellow Republicans were incongruent with his handling of fiscal problems as the displaced Speaker deterred the government shutdown Saturday putting a “clean” stopgap funding bill on the House floor. He did so with the support of Democrats.
The step was the last chance for McCarthy, who attempted to pass a Grand Old Party (GOP) funding plan but was intercepted by several fellow party members — including those who voted to oust him, according to The Hill.
According to his supporters, the move is also personal. Gaetz had been endangering to oust him via vote for weeks.
McCarthy had said he would not shake hands with Democrats to preserve his post but planned to plead with them by claiming that a successful motion to vacate would be bad for the institution of the House.
Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Leader Democrat, sent a “dear colleague” on Tuesday that Democratic leadership would back the measure to dismiss McCarthy as the party earlier indicated that they would not be able to protect the Speaker from his party uprising.
Jeffries wrote, “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.”
“It is now the responsibility of the GOP members to end the House Republican Civil War. Given their unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican Motion to Vacate the Chair.”
