It’s an unprecedented development that has loomed over the Californian since he took the gavel in January.
For the first time in history, the House has deposed its speaker.
Democrats joined with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and his small group of conservative allies to vote to strip Kevin McCarthy of his gavel Tuesday. It’s unclear who would succeed McCarthy long term, though his allies expect he will try to run for speaker again and members pledged to continue supporting him.
“We’re perfectly happy to drag this out as long as it takes,” said Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), a McCarthy ally. “We’re all going to be there for the speaker as long as he wants us to be.”
“I’ll continue to support Kevin McCarthy as long as he’s running,” echoed Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.)
The House clerk announced Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) would act as a temporary speaker immediately after the vote concluded. McHenry was selected from a secret list of McCarthy’s hand-picked successors. The Californian’s ally will have all the authority of a regularly elected speaker. There are several questions surrounding that acting speaker, as House rules don’t specifically lay out how soon a new speaker ballot would need to occur.
Eight Republicans voted against McCarthy: Reps. Eli Crane (Ariz.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Matt Rosendale (Mont.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.), Nancy Mace (S.C.) and Tim Burchett (Tenn.).
Three House leaders have been floated as potential long-term replacements: Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). All three have disavowed any interest in replacing McCarthy — a reality that could change now that the Californian is officially out.
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For the first time in history, the House has deposed its speaker.
Democrats joined with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and his small group of conservative allies to vote to strip Kevin McCarthy of his gavel.https://t.co/zoi309H5x3 pic.twitter.com/qLQBVoYuwY
— POLITICO (@politico) October 3, 2023
Rep. Patrick McHenry is now the acting speaker after Kevin McCarthy was stripped of the gavel in a historic House vote.
As a longtime McCarthy ally, the position is an uncomfortable one for McHenry.https://t.co/REjAeSBh1o
— POLITICO (@politico) October 3, 2023
The historic vote to boot Kevin McCarthy as House speaker was just 216 to 210 after these 8 Republicans joined nearly all Democrats to oust him 👇https://t.co/44tXC5tbeJ pic.twitter.com/7Mz0s1PIiG
— POLITICO (@politico) October 3, 2023
Kevin McCarthy will not seek the speakership again, marking a devastating end to his time in GOP leadership.https://t.co/mVAYppgYQl
— POLITICO (@politico) October 3, 2023
This is going to be the best speaker’s race in history. I hope someone is making a documentary https://t.co/mV3VnNhZdY
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) October 4, 2023
You can blame the Republican insurgence for bringing down McCarthy, but the bigger problem is that the GOP is now a countercultural movement of sour and resentful people who don’t even know what the hell they’re mad about most of the time until Fox tells them why they’re angry
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) October 4, 2023
If I could just touch the hem of his garment, I know I'll be made whole right now. https://t.co/DooUVGiK48
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) October 4, 2023
"[McCarthy] has been one of the key figures in transforming the GOP into a monstrous political party, one whose contempt for constitutional and democratic norms poses the greatest threat to the Republic since the Civil War."https://t.co/BXA4K39MEo
— Peter Wehner (@Peter_Wehner) October 4, 2023
So Gaetz doesn’t like that the CR passed only with Dem votes, so… he enlists the entire Dem caucus to oust the speaker. Genius-level stuff here.
— Ilya Shapiro (@ishapiro) October 3, 2023
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