Rep. Matt Gaetz and seven other Republicans joined with House Democrats to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday. This marks the first time in history a speaker has been ousted from his position. McCarthy refused to cut a deal with Democrats to save his job.
Representative Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) has been named speaker pro tempore, to oversee the election of a new speaker.
Some names that have been floated as potential replacements for McCarthy include Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and McHenry. A candidate must win at least 218 votes to be elected as House speaker.
“Nobody knows what’s going happen next, including all the people that voted to vacate (they) have no earthly idea what, they have no plan,” Rep. Tom Cole, the chairman of the House Rules Committee, said. “They have no alternative at this point. So it’s just simply a vote for chaos.”
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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.
A new election for House speaker will held next week. In the meantime, all other business is halted. “One deadline is looming,” notes the New York Times. “The government will shut down in mid-November after passing a temporary funding measure over the weekend. That’s unless Congress can pass all 12 of its yearlong spending bills or another stopgap funding bill — a tall task made even more challenging by the chaos of a speaker’s race.”
Some wondered if McCarthy would simply seek the speakership again, but he has thrown cold water on that idea. Rather than create a situation where there may be multiple rounds of voting, plunging the House GOP into further chaos, McCarthy will step aside and let another candidate who can win in the first round of voting take over.
McCarthy told reporters he has no regrets.
“I don’t regret standing up for choosing governance over grievance,” McCarthy told reporters. “It is my responsibility, it is my job. I do not regret negotiating. Our government is designed to find compromise. I don’t regret my efforts to build coalitions and find solutions. I was raised to solve problems, not create them.”
I will not seek to run again for Speaker of the House. I may have lost a vote today, but I fought for what I believe in—and I believe in America. It has been an honor to serve. https://t.co/4EMpOuwtzy
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) October 3, 2023
Hopefully the House speaker election next week will be quick so we can get back to business and put this behind us.
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