Update 4:45 p.m.: Following an hour of debate, the House of Representatives voted 216-210 in favor of a resolution to oust the Speaker of the House for the first time in U.S. history. The seat of the Speaker is now vacant. Democrats voted in lock step to remove Kevin McCarthy, along with eight Republican members of Congress led by Matt Gaetz.
At times, the debate appeared to be Matt Gaetz against almost everyone else in the GOP aside from the members who initially backed the move to oust McCarthy. In fact, Gaetz seemed to become more agitated as the debate drew to a close, comparing the donations that financed his campaign to fellow Republicans who attend lavish fundraisers. He closed by saying that McCarthy has failed to take a stand for average Americans, stating that he would do so if McCarthy will not.
The vote sets up a new and likely prolonged race for the speakership, but as PJ Media’s Rick Moran wrote earlier today:
McCarthy is the only member with enough support to come close to winning the speakership. There may be a dozen members who wouldn’t vote for McCarthy — if there was a viable alternative. Since there really doesn’t appear that any other GOP member of stature is willing to challenge McCarthy, it’s very likely that after several votes, McCarthy will be re-elected.
The House is now in recess.
Original article:
On Tuesday afternoon, Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) finally made good on his move to try to oust Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the Speaker’s chair. House members voted 218 to 208 not to table the issue of removing McCarthy. The motion to vacate only requires a simple majority. The proverbial straw that broke Gaetz’s back was McCarthy turning to Democrats to pass the spending bill over the weekend. Republicans Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Matt Rosendale, Victoria Spartz, Nancy Mace, Ken Buck, Warren Davidson, Eli Crane, Cory Mills, Bob Good, and Tim Burchett all voted against tabling the measure.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told House Democrats not to help the GOP delay efforts to remove McCarthy. He wrote: “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.”
McCarthy was confident that he would hold on to the Speaker’s chair.
Virginia’s Bob Good talked about the fact that the GOP has never combatted the Democrat agenda in the House, adding that the bill on Saturday was the red line in his decision to vote against tabling the issue. Tom Cole of Oklahoma defended McCarthy and his record, warning against the chaos that could ensue from vacating the Speaker seat.
Gaetz commented, “Chaos is Speaker McCarthy. Chaos is somebody who we cannot trust with their word.” Gaetz later called the current state of affairs in the House “failure theater,” noting that the body was on the fast track to an omnibus bill due to Republicans who could not even hold Hunter Biden accountable.
Thomas Massie called the vote a “referendum on this institution” in his argument against forcing McCarthy to vacate. Tom McClintock warned that the move would paralyze the House and shift the power to the Democrats. He called for sobriety, wisdom, and caution. In response, Gaetz said there is nothing sober, wise, or cautious about the path to national financial ruin. Ashley Hinson of Iowa referred to McCarthy’s record in combatting Biden’s initiatives and said that her colleagues had a choice to be chaos agents or get back to work.
Gaetz called a colleague giving McCarthy credit for single appropriation bills “astonishing” and said it was time to eulogize the era of continuing resolution. He said keeping McCarthy would be a puppet show designed to “keep the hamsters on the wheel.” Throughout the debate, Gaetz parceled out some of his time to allow McCarthy’s supporters in the House to speak.
One hour was received for debate before the vote to vacate. The vote is currently underway. This is a developing story and will be updated after the vote.
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