Eight Republicans voted Tuesday to impeach Speaker Kevin McCarthy in a lawsuit initiated by MAGA GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.).
In a sensational turn of events, McCarthy was voted out of his leadership position in the House of Representatives, continuing the Republican civil war in the House of Representatives.
The backlash against his continued service as Speaker of the House of Representatives came as he negotiated a continuing resolution with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown this weekend.
But some far-right members of the party claim he is appeasing the left and is not a “real” Republican.
Along with Gaetz, the seven other Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy from his speakership are Reps. Andy Biggs and Eli Crame (Ariz.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Bob Good (Va.) , Nancy Mace (SC) and Matt Rosendale (Mon.).
Eight Republicans in the House of Representatives joined all Democrats in a 216-210 vote on Tuesday to resign from the House Speaker and remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his leadership post
McCarthy, flanked by reporters and Capitol staff on Tuesday, became the first speaker ever fired from his position in the history of the House of Representatives
Mace stunned her colleagues by voting to remove McCarthy from leadership, likely sealing his fate in a session full of drama.
The eight joined forces with the entire Democratic conference and voted 216 to 210 in favor of declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives vacant.
The move effectively removed McCarthy from power and roiled the chamber as it now begins the challenging task of selecting his replacement.
McCarthy, 58, is the first president 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 ally of McCarthy, will now serve as speaker pro tem, meaning he will serve as speaker until the House of Representatives can move on to someone else to decide.
Burchett told reporters there are “a lot of people” who do the job better than McCarthy — and said he wanted a speaker who didn’t crave the job so much.
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.”
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.
Representative Gaetz led the uprising for McCarthy’s impeachment. He and a small group of hardline Republicans view McCarthy as a weak conservative
The House of Representatives is currently in recess, which will likely be used by Republicans to consider who to choose as their next leader.
The humiliating end for McCarthy sent shockwaves across Capitol Hill and secured his title as the shortest-serving Speaker since 1875 after a rollercoaster nine-month stint.
Matt Gaetz of Florida led the insurrection along with a small group of hardline Republicans who viewed McCarthy as a weak conservative.
McCarthy was seen shaking hands and hugging his supporters on the House floor after the stinging loss. His name could come up again in subsequent battles.
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.
Steve Scalise was among the Republicans who supported McCarthy. Gaetz has specifically said that Scalise would be a good replacement
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.