Kevin McCarthy ousted as House speaker; Republicans to meet to discuss next steps – live

House Democrats will meet at 9am eastern time on Wednesday after the chamber voted to remove Kevin McCarthy from his role as speaker.

As we reported earlier, House Republicans are expected to meet at 6.30pm this evening to decide their next steps.

Speaker election votes are not expected tonight, according to reports.

South Carolina congresswoman Nancy Mace was among the eight Republicans who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy from the speakership.

Explaining her decision, Mace said McCarthy “has not lived up to his word on how the House would operate”. She added:

With the current speaker, this chaos will continue. We need a fresh start so we can get back to the people’s business free of these distractions.

House Republicans will convene to meet at 6.30pm to decide their next steps after eight rightwing members joined with Democrats to oust Kevin McCarthy from the post of speaker of the House, according to Punchbowl News:

The big question before them is who will they elect to replace McCarthy. One obvious name: Kevin McCarthy. Nothing is stopping him from running for the speakership again and hoping his detractors have changed their minds.

But if they refuse, the GOP will have to find someone else.

Lots of emotions in the Capitol right now, particularly among the many House Republicans who did not want to see Kevin McCarthy booted as their speaker.

Case in point: Patrick McHenry, who is now acting House speaker. The way he gavelled the chamber into recess following the successful expulsion vote says it all:

Speaking at an event at Georgetown University in Washington DC, Mike Pence, the former vice-president and current candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, condemned Kevin McCarthy’s overthrow as ‘chaos’.

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.

Pence added: “Political performance art in Washington DC does little to address the issues the American people are facing.”

Pence represented an Indiana district in the House from 2001 to 2013.

Per CNN, Kevin McCarthy had nothing to say as he left the House chamber following the vote that removed him as speaker:

Eight Republicans voted to remove Kevin McCarthy, among them Tim Burchett of Tennessee.

Burchett said that as he was considering whether or not to support ejecting McCarthy, the then speaker called him and “said something that I thought belittled me and my belief system”, Burchett told CNN.

“You know, that pretty much sealed it with me right there. I thought that showed the character of a man,” he continued, but declined to elaborate on what McCarthy said.

Asked by anchor Jake Tapper if he would support any of the high-ranking Republicans who have been floated as potential McCarthy replacements – such as Minnesota’s Tom Emmer, Oklahoma’s Tom Cole or Louisiana’s Steve Scalise – Burchett replied “All three of those would be excellent choices, and I think they can do an excellent job. They’re honorable men.”

“They’ve never openly mocked me anyway,” he added.

North Carolina Republican Patrick McHenry has taken over as House speaker pro tempore following Kevin McCarthy’s removal from the leadership role in Congress’s lower chamber moments ago.

Per House rules, McCarthy submitted to the chamber’s clerk a list of lawmakers who would take over if his seat becomes vacant, of which McHenry was apparently first.

McHenry is the chair of the financial services committee, and voted against removing McCarthy. After picking up the gavel, he recessed the House.

Some sharp intakes of breath in the chamber as Kevin McCarthy was removed.

McCarthy threw his head back and chuckled – perhaps the only thing he could do – as a couple of members walked over to shake his hand. The upper section of the gallery emptied pretty quickly as soon as the vote to remove was gavelled.

California Republican Kevin McCarthy has become the first speaker of the House forced out of the job in US history, after a rebellion by far-right Republicans that was aided by Democrats and fueled by frustration over his approach to government spending and negotiating with Joe Biden.

The final vote tally was 216 in favor and 210 against.

A congressman since 2007, McCarthy was elected to the speaker’s post in January, but only through a grueling 15 rounds of balloting after the same rightwing Republicans who would later plot his ouster demanded concessions in exchange for their assent. In the months that followed, those lawmakers grew frustrated with the speaker’s approach to governing after he struck deals with Biden and the Democrats to raise the debt ceiling and, this past weekend, keep the federal government open while lawmakers worked out long-term spending plans.

That agreement prompted Florida Republican Matt Gaetz to on Monday file a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair. While most House Republicans supported McCarthy, Democrats’ hostility to the speaker, who is an ally of Donald Trump, and a handful of GOP defections sealed his fate.

The House must now begin the process of finding a new speaker. Republicans maintain a four-set majority in Congress’s lower chamber.

The vote is nearly over.

The motion to vacate is currently leading with 216 in favor, and 207 opposed. Kevin McCarthy is on course to lose his position as speaker of the House.

Kevin McCarthy looks resigned as he sits in his chair with his palms over each other in his lap.

The number of Republicans voting for his ouster just crossed eight members – likely enough to end his speakership.

Matt Gaetz, who filed the motion to remove him as speaker, is sitting towards the back of the chamber, also in an aisle seat, leaning forward in his chair and talking to a few members sitting around him.

Standing near Gaetz is George Santos, the Republican congressman who is an admitted fabulist and also facing a federal indictment. It seems like he’s eavesdropping on Gaetz’s conversation.

Seven Republicans have now voted to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker.

Assuming all Democrats vote for his ouster, McCarthy is on track to become the first House speaker in American history ejected from the job.

Ohio Republican Warren Davidson joined with Democrats to vote for proceeding with the vote to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker.

But, interestingly, he just voted against actually removing McCarthy.

I’m standing in the House press gallery, which is on the second level above the dais, and currently packed with reporters.

The chamber feels tense. None of the lawmakers are moving around, and are barely speaking except to call out their votes. Kevin McCarthy is sitting three rows in from the well, in an aisle seat. He seems to be gripping the arm rest quite tightly with his right hand.

Most of the rest of the Republican conference is standing at the back of the chamber.

So far, about 120 votes have been cast, and the motion to vacate has a small lead.

The House is now voting on whether to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker. Lawmakers will be called to vote in alphabetical order, similarly to how it was done in January, when he was elected to the post.

About an hour ago, a motion to block the removal motion was defeated with 218 votes. That amount of support would also be enough to remove McCarthy as speaker, assuming no lawmakers change their minds.

Should the motion to vacate be successful, McCarthy will become the first speaker of the House removed from his post in US history.

As Republicans debate his fate on the House floor, NBC News reports that Kevin McCarthy’s office has reached out to some moderate Democrats to ask them to vote to keep him as speaker.

There is no indication they are willing to oblige:

If Democrats were to save McCarthy, he would likely have had to make substantial concessions to Joe Biden’s allies. One can only imagine what those would have been, but ending the impeachment inquiry would probably have been one of them.