The Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was replaced as speaker on Tuesday. He is the first to be voted out of office in the history of 234 years.
For the first time in the 234-year history of US speakers, Republican speaker McCarthy became the first to be voted out. The Parliament House of the US backed a resolution “to vacate the office of the speaker” with a close majority of 216-210 to replace McCarthy just a year before the presidential elections in 2024. The speaker was ruled out yesterday.
Kevin McCarthy ousted by rebellion among Republicans
The removal of the speaker in the House’s 234-year rich history was supported by a handful of members of McCarthy’s own Republican Party. The resolution was supported by eight right-wing Republicans, in particular Florida’s conservative Republican Matt Gaetz, who forced the removal vote in the House. Matt Gaetz ousted McCarthy with just a few Republicans, helped by Democrats.
It was a historic and brutal rebellion by far-right Republicans who were furious at McCarthy’s cooperation with the rival Democrats. The chaotic moments of infighting among the Republicans helped the Democrats remove the speaker. The House of Parliament is evenly divided among the Democrats and Republicans, and with eight rebel Republicans joining, McCarthy stood no chance.
After the vote, Matt Gaetz said, “Chaos is speaker McCarthy.” He also added, “Kevin McCarthy has made multiple contradictory promises, and when they all come to due, he lost.” Democrats too had no love for the speaker; to stay as a speaker, McCarthy needed support from the Democrats. But Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries made it clear that this fight is between McCarthy and House Republicans.
The hardline Republicans were furious at McCarthy for making a deal with the Democrats and moderate Republicans to avert a government shutdown, keeping the government open, which upset the rebel Republicans. McCarthy could only afford to lose four Republicans, but he lost eight and needed help from the Democrats to stay in power, but they too voted in mass against him.
No speaker, what’s next?
With McCarthy out, a temporary speaker will be chosen by the House until a permanent speaker is elected. The first thing is to elect a permanent speaker. There will be some push to try to get McCarthy elected again. In January, it took only 15 votes for McCarthy to be elected as speaker of the House, but at the moment, McCarthy does not have enough support from the Republicans. All the business of the Parliament will be on hold until the new speaker is elected by vote.
After the vote, North Carolina’s Patrick McHenry, a close ally of McCarthy, was named as a temporary speaker for the House. The North Carolina Republican was chosen from a list that the speaker McCarthy had made of the members who could serve as the speaker in the event the chair is vacant. The temporary speaker does not have the full power of the permanent speaker.
Increasing trouble for Republicans
With this infighting and rebellion among the Republicans, the party looks to be in total confusion. In addition to Trump who is facing 91 felonies indictment in a court hearing on Tuesday, the trouble is tenfold for the Republicans ahead of the presidential elections in 2024. Former President Trump berated the Republicans on social media for “always fighting among themselves.”
With McCarthy out, the Republican House is divided, and there is no successor to lead the House Republican majority. The Republicans are fighting amongst themselves ahead of the presidential election in 2024, making way for Democrats to get more power in the Parliament House and in the presidential election. Former President Trump is still the face of the Republican Party and is a strong candidate for the presidential elections in 2024.
