MORE THAN half a dozen Republicans joined Democrats to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as House Speaker in a historic vote on Tuesday, the first time a Speaker has ever been removed through a no-confidence vote.
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It was the first time since 1910 that a vote has been held on whether to remove a Speaker and the only time such a motion has been approved.
- The vote is the culmination of months of internal strife facing the GOP leader, who rose to the Speakership in January after a historic 15 rounds of voting.
- In the end, eight Republicans joined Democrats to remove the Speaker, approving the measure in a 216-210 vote.
McCarthy fired back at a small group of House GOP critics on Monday after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) filed the motion to vacate the Speakership.
The Florida Republican tried to block McCarthy’s rise to Speaker in January and has vocally criticized his handling of issues, including most recently working with Democrats to advance a stopgap government funding bill.
“I don’t think voting against Kevin McCarthy is chaos. I think $33 trillion in debt is chaos. I think that facing a $2.2 trillion annual deficit is chaos. I think that not passing single subject spending bills is chaos,” Gaetz said Tuesday.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), one of the leaders of the impeachment inquiry against President Biden, said McCarthy “has been rock solid” on passing bills, getting oversight work done and stopping a last-minute omnibus.
While Republicans took the floor Tuesday afternoon presenting impassioned pleas both for and against McCarthy, Democrats unified in their opposition to the Speaker, ultimately helping sink his hopes of holding onto the gavel.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a “dear colleague” letter earlier Tuesday that Democratic leadership would support the motion to vacate and that it’s “the responsibility of the GOP members to end the House Republican Civil War.”
Stay with The Hill’s live blog for more fallout.
