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"It's uncharted territory because we've never done that in the history of the United States," Matthew Green, a politics professor at Catholic University, told CBS News. The House could proceed soon to the election of a new speaker or decide to hold it at a later time. The speaker pro tempore, which is the official title, can only recess the House, adjourn the chamber and recognize speaker nominations.
Who wasn't present for the vote?
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. On Tuesday, one hardliner, Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, even polled his Twitter followers on the question. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, a Democrat who frequently breaks with his party and is one of their most vulnerable members, said in a statement that he sees "no reason to vote" to save McCarthy. But Democrats say McCarthy hasn't reached out to them at all for help, and they're furious with him for dismissing their role in governance, particularly in light of their support for McCarthy's government funding bill on Saturday. Some Republicans have threatened to use it in the last few months, but this is the first time it's actually happened.
In historic vote, House ousts Speaker Kevin McCarthy - Courthouse News Service
In historic vote, House ousts Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Posted: Tue, 03 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Rep. Matt Gaetz calls McCarthy "a creature of the swamp" following vote to remove him as speaker
McCarthy declined to be interviewed, perhaps because of the ways — feckless, morally bankrupt — your friendly columnist has described him. Three others — Bob Good of Virginia, Eli Crane of Arizona and Nancy Mace of South Carolina — face strong primary challenges. McCarthy has been working behind the scenes to end their congressional careers, strategizing and directing money and other resources to their opponents.
GOP Rep. Crenshaw says he's feeling "exhaustion" ahead of the speaker removal vote
As the House fell silent, Gaetz, a top ally of Donald Trump, rose to offer his motion. Gaetz is a leader of the hard-right Republicans who fought in January against McCarthy in his prolonged battle to gain the gavel. The House then opened a floor debate, unseen in modern times, ahead of the next round of voting.
Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy was removed as House speaker following a revolt from within his own party and went into the vote without a crucial ally who helped propel him to leadership in January — Donald Trump. During the hourlong meeting in the Capitol basement, McCarthy invoked Republican Speaker Joseph Cannon, who more than 100 years ago confronted his critics head-on by calling their bluff and setting the vote himself on his ouster. With the government running out of money again in a little over a month, the House has instead ousted the speaker for the first time in the chamber’s history — with no one to replace him.
House in Chaos: Kevin McCarthy Ousted From Speakership
The 216-to-210 vote reflected the deep polarization in Congress and raised questions about who, if anyone, could muster the support to govern an increasingly unruly House G.O.P. majority. A handful of far-right Republicans broke with their party and voted to remove Kevin McCarthy from his leadership post. Murphy said he doubts, however, that a fight over the speakership would last long enough to risk a government shutdown and predicted McCarthy would still be speaker next week. With McCarthy removed from his leadership position, House Republicans will now look to find a replacement that can appease both far-right members and moderates in the party.
McCarthy Ousted as House Speaker in Historic Vote
Republicans were upset that McCarthy relied on Democratic votes Saturday to approve the temporary measure to keep the government running until Nov. 17. Some would have preferred a government shutdown as they fight for deeper spending cuts. Removing the speaker launches the House Republicans into chaos, as they try to find a new leader.
Votes cast by members
Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts. "The reality is that the Republicans look to the speaker for all kinds of things, like setting the agenda and negotiating between factions in order to figure out what comes to the floor," he said. "So without somebody in charge, it's hard to see the House Republicans being able to bring much to the floor in the first place." "If this motion carries, the House will be paralyzed," McClintock said in remarks on the House floor. "We can expect week after week of fruitless ballots while no other business can be conducted." Unlike in January, when the House could not begin its work until a speaker was elected, McHenry will serve in the role temporarily until a new speaker wins the gavel.
Votes by Democrats, GOP rebels led by Rep Matt Gaetz combine to oust McCarthy
An overwhelming number of Republicans, 210, voted to keep McCarthy in power, but it was not enough to stop the effort led by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who for weeks has accused McCarthy of breaking promises to conservatives to cut spending. There’s no clear consensus on which lawmaker might be elected to replace McCarthy, and so far no Republican has put themself forward to serve as Speaker. Republican Rep. Tom Cole, a key McCarthy ally, urged members to “think long and hard before you plunge us into chaos” by voting to vacate the speakership. “He put his political neck on the line, knowing this day was coming, to do the right thing—the right thing for the country,” Cole said, referring to McCarthy’s efforts to end the government shutdown. After days of contention over stopgap spending measures to avert a federal shutdown, Mr. McCarthy, with the support of more than 200 Democrats, managed on Saturday to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through mid-November. It requires a majority vote to succeed and would oust Kevin McCarthy from his leadership post.
Some have suggested that those opposing McCarthy could simply vote “present,” lowering his threshold to win — a tactic Pelosi and Boehner used to win with fewer than 218 votes. The Freedom Caucus’ early leaders, under Mark Meadows, the former North Carolina congressman who became Trump’s chief of staff, wielded the procedure to pressure Boehner and Ryan. “It’s all in jeopardy,” he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Friday.
For years, Kevin McCarthy wanted to be speaker of the House in the worst possible way, and that’s precisely what he accomplished by winning the leadership post after 15 humiliating rounds of voting and days of give-away-the-store negotiations. Four days, and fifteen rounds of voting later, during which time anti-McCarthy holdouts cast their votes for the likes of Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), and even former President Donald Trump, McCarthy finally was handed the gavel. Eight Republican lawmakers joined 208 Democrats in toppling the former Bakersfield congressman, the first time in history a House leader has been voted out. Tensions flared during an hour of debate before the actual motion to vacate, after 11 Republicans voted with every Democrat to advance the measure. McCarthy's allies had taken up all of the microphones on the GOP side of the chamber, forcing Gaetz to make his case from the side where Democrats traditionally sit. Lawmakers have voted to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from his leadership role, the first time in the history of the House of Representatives that the chamber voted to boot a member from the top job.
But when Republicans retook the chamber with a slim majority, McCarthy capitulated to a group of hardline Republicans' demands that the measure be made available to any single member of the chamber. The House, under interim speaker Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, will now have to hold speaker elections once again, and it's not clear where that will lead. “The problem with my friend from Ohio’s argument, many of the bills he references as passed are not law. It’s hard to make the argument that oversight is the reason to continue when it looks like failure theatre,” he said. “We are ready, willing and able to work together with our Republican colleagues, but it is on them to join us,” Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told the press on Tuesday morning.
During debate on the motion to vacate, Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA), a top McCarthy ally, held up his phone on the House floor and showed a lawmaker’s fundraising solicitation based on their anti-McCarthy posturing. An effort from GOP leadership to table Gaetz’s motion failed earlier on Tuesday afternoon, with 11 Republicans voting with all Democrats to advance to the up-or-down vote on McCarthy. Rep. Kevin McCarthy lost his job Tuesday as House speaker, throwing a key governing body into chaos, leaving it without a clear leader to pass legislation, and leaving the country without a designated second in line to the presidency. This also has the potential to be a seminal point in the chamber’s history and raise serious questions about whether the House — and the Republican Party — are governable.
Neither the right-flank Republicans who engineered his ouster nor the Democrats who piled on seem open to negotiating. In the Democrats’ meeting, leadership played sound of McCarthy’s Sunday interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” where he said Democrats wanted to shut down the government in last week’s standoff, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., recounted. "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," Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York wrote to his caucus. Though McCarthy had the support of most House Republicans, there were enough opponents within his party to cost him the speakership. McCarthy commands a slim 222-seat Republican majority, which means on any given vote he can only lose four GOP detractors or the legislation will fail, if all Democrats are opposed. But McCarthy himself announced Monday evening's final vote tally on the IRS bill to applause from his side of the aisle.
Asked what he would tell his colleagues who say no one other than McCarthy can get a majority of his conference, Gaetz said it was time to move on. McHenry, who is a top ally of Kevin McCarthy, was appointed speaker pro tempore. The former president, who spent the weekend campaigning in Iowa before traveling to Manhattan to attend his trial, has also said little about the congressional battle, his advisers said. “Nobody knows what's going happen next including all the people that voted to vacate have no earthly idea what they have no plan. Trump, the former president who is the Republican front-runner in the 2024 race to challenge Biden, weighed in to complain about the chaos.
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