The US House of Representatives voted to remove Kevin McCarthy from the speaker’s chair on Tuesday, making McCarthy the first speaker of the House in US history to be removed from the job.
McCarthy, who had only been in the post for nine months, set the wheels in motion for his removal last weekend when he collaborated with Democrats in an effort to fund the government and avoid a shutdown. That move prompted the hard-right congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida to introduce a motion on Monday night to oust him.
Despite efforts from McCarthy and his allies to put a stop to Gaetz’s proposal, their motion failed in a vote by 208 to 218. A final vote was held on Tuesday afternoon and saw eight hard-right Republicans joining 208 Democrats to remove McCarthy from his post. The final vote was 216 to 210, in favor of McCarthy getting the boot.
Here are five takeaways from the tumultuous event:
The House has a new – temporary – speaker: Patrick McHenry
As we’ve noted above, this is the first time in history that a speaker has been removed so the House has entered uncharted territory.
According to House rules, McCarthy would have been required to draft a list of names for the clerk of fellow members, in the event of his vacancy. According to Rule I, clause 8, whomever McCarthy put next on that list “shall act as Speaker pro tempore until the election of a Speaker or a Speaker pro tempore”.
That person was the North Carolina Republican Patrick McHenry, who has now taken over as House speaker pro tempore, or “for the time being.” McHenry is the chair of the financial services committee, and voted against removing McCarthy.
Given McCarthy’s chaotic 15-ballot election in January, it seems all but certain that another multiple ballot election will ensue.
This may open the door for Steve Scalise
Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, currently the No 2 House Republican, has been mentioned as McCarthy’s potential successor. Gaetz notably called out the longtime rival of McCarthy on Monday in a chat with reporters.
“I am not going to pass over Steve Scalise just because he has blood cancer,” Gaetz said.
Scalise, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment for blood cancer, announced his diagnosis in August, calling the illness “very treatable” and noting that it had been detected early.
We’ll likely continue to see a galvanized Gaetz
Gaetz, who had been critical of McCarthy long before the latter took the speakership, lambasted the disgraced politician shortly after his ousting as “a creature of the swamp”.
“He has risen to power by collecting special interest money and redistributing that money in exchange for favors,” Gaetz said on Tuesday during an interview on CNN. “We are breaking the fever and we should elect a speaker who is better.”
Gaetz doubled down on his vote of confidence for Scalise, telling the network in response to a question of whether he would now nominate Scalise: “I think the world of Steve Scalise. I think he would make a phenomenal speaker.”
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Given that Gaetz used the vote to boot McCarthy as a means to fundraise for himself, he is expected to make more trouble for the House in the coming weeks.
The GOP is now in full-fledged ‘chaos’
No one likes to live in unprecedented times, but – yet again – here we are. Eight Republicans voting in favor of removing McCarthy illuminates the burgeoning fissures amid the GOP. Those eight included representatives Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Matt Rosendale of Montana, and Gaetz.
The former Republican vice-president Mike Pence, speaking at an event at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, said: “Chaos is never America’s strength and it’s never a friend of American families that are struggling. I’m deeply disappointed that a handful of Republicans have partnered with Democrats to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House.”
House Rules committee chairman Tom Cole told CNN things are now unclear.
“Nobody knows what’s going to happen next, including all the people that voted to vacate … they have no plan. They have no alternative at this point. So it’s just simply a vote for chaos,” Cole said.
Neither side of the aisle knows what’s going to happen next with some saying it looks ‘apocalyptic’
During his attempt to keep McCarthy as speaker, congressman Tom McClintock of California declared that “if this motion carries, the House will be paralyzed”.
“We can expect week after week of fruitless ballots while no other business can be conducted. The Democrats will revel in Republican dysfunction and the public will rightly be repulsed,” McClintock said.
He went on to predict that Democrats would then “enlist a rump caucus of Republicans to join a coalition to end the impasse. This House will shift dramatically to the left and will effectively end the Republican House majority that the voters elected in 2022. And this, in turn, will neutralize the only counterweight in our elected government to the woke left control of the Senate and the White House at a time when their … policies are destroying our economy and have opened our borders to invasion.”
Lest he hold back at all, McClintock continued ominously: “There are turning points in history whose significance is only realized by the events that they unleash. This is one of those times. We are at the precipice. There are only minutes left to come to our senses and realize the grave danger our country is in at this moment. Dear God, grant us the wisdom to see it and to save our country from it.”
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
