Kevin McCarthy voted out as speaker: The Republican becomes the first leader of the House of Representatives in American history to be stripped of the gavel after a stunning rebellion of critics led by Matt Gaetz

Kevin McCarthy has been sensationally ousted as Speaker of the House of Representatives in a historic vote sparked by a tumultuous civil war in the Republican Party.

A motion to vacate the speaker’s chair passed by a vote of 216 to 210, with eight Republicans joining Democrats to succeed the leader of the House of Representatives.

McCarthy, California, became the first speaker in the 234-year history of the U.S. Congress to be ousted and have his gavel taken away by fellow lawmakers.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., chairman of the Financial Services Committee and a close McCarthy ally, will not serve as speaker pro tem, meaning he will serve as speaker until the House can decide on someone else.

The House of Representatives is now in recess while Republicans decide their next step to elect a leader.

The humiliating end for the 58-year-old McCarthy sent shockwaves across Capitol Hill and secured his title as the shortest-serving Speaker since 1875 after a rollercoaster nine-month stint.

It came after an uprising led by his nemesis, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, and a small group of hardline Republicans who viewed McCarthy as a weak conservative.

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina stunned her colleagues by voting to remove McCarthy from leadership, likely sealing his fate in a session full of drama.

The Republican leader’s term collapsed nine months after he was elected following an unprecedented 15 rounds of voting.

Republicans were reeling as they tried to avoid a possible government shutdown next month.

McCarthy’s supporters called him a “lucky warrior” with “real American grit.”

But in the House of Representatives, Gaetz said, “Chaos is Speaker McCarthy. Chaos is someone we cannot trust at his word.

“One thing that the White House, the Democrats in the House of Representatives and many of us on the conservative side of the Republican caucus would argue is that what we have in common – Kevin McCarthy at some point said something to all of us that he didn’t. ‘It’s not really mean and it was never intended to be complied with.

“I don’t think voting against Kevin McCarthy is chaos. I think $33 trillion in debt is chaos. I think facing a $2.2 trillion annual deficit is chaos.”

He added: “Let’s move on, let’s leave the seat, let’s find a better Speaker.”

McCarthy’s supporters booed and booed Gaetz as he stormed into the Speaker’s office ahead of the vote that officially removed him.

Republicans control the House with a slim majority of 221 to 212, meaning it only took a handful of defectors to unseat McCarthy.

It came after an uprising led by his nemesis, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, and a small group of hardline Republicans who viewed McCarthy as a weak conservative.

Steve Scalise was among the Republicans who supported McCarthy

McCarthy’s supporters called him a ‘lucky warrior’ with ‘real American grit’

Gaetz and his allies criticized McCarthy for relying on Democratic votes to approve temporary funding that would have averted a partial government shutdown last week.

They also said he had not pushed hard enough for cuts and was too willing to send money to Ukraine.

The anti-McCarthy Republicans have not united around one alternative that they would like to present as a speaker. Gaetz has noted that the speaker doesn’t even have to be a member of the House.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told reporters there are “a lot of people” doing the job better than McCarthy. Gaetz said Monday night that he would like to see Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who is battling blood cancer, in the role but seemed open to other options.

Burchett also said he wanted a speaker who didn’t really want the job.

He said last week he had a conversation with McCarthy, “the last thing he said was, ‘I really want to be a speaker.’ And I think that sums up the whole thing… it’s not about one person.”

But McCarthy’s allies could continue to nominate him for speaker again.