US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy ousted in unprecedented vote

News, US October 5, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Republican Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy was voted out on October 3, 2023, after an infighting within his own party. McCarthy was ousted from his role in a tight 216-210 votes, becoming the first U.S. House Speaker to be removed through voting.

Republican Party congressman from Florida Matt Gaetz launched a motion against McCarthy’s role as the House Speaker. Apart from the Democrat representatives, who have always expressed their frustration against the House Speak, as many as eight Republican representatives voted against McCarthy, sinking his chance to secure his job.

The Speaker of the Congress acts as the House of Representatives leader, the presiding officer and administrative head of the House, and the leader of the majority party in the House. The Speaker of the House is second in line to succeed the President of the United States, after the Vice President.

“Speaker McCarthy has failed to take a stand where it matters,” far-right Congressman Matt Gaetz said as he moved the motion to remove the House Speaker. “The reason Kevin McCarthy went down today is because nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz told reporters after the vote. “Kevin McCarthy has made multiple contradictory promises, and when they all came due, he lost votes of people who maybe don’t even ideologically agree with me on everything,” he added.

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

After voting, McCarthy told his fellow lawmakers that he would not run for the position again. “I may have lost this vote today, but as I walk out of this chamber, I feel fortunate to have served,” McCarthy said at a press conference at the Capitol.

Following McCarthy’s ousting, his top ally Patrick McHenry took the gravel to assume the role of the speaker pro tempore. He would serve as the House Speaker until the new Speaker is chosen.

The next step remains highly uncertain about the leadership of the House that holds a Republican majority. As of now, there is no immediate choice within the party to replace McCarthy.

McCarthy had been under a lot of fire from his own party representatives for being too lenient towards the Biden administration on several matters including the Pentagon’s financial support for Ukraine a day before voting. A far-right hardliner faction of Republican representatives had been opposing McCarthy’s role as a House Speaker since his induction into the office in January this year.

^{Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks to reporters after he was ousted from the position of Speaker by a vote of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., on October 3, 2023. (Image Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)}

A day earlier, Gaetz accused McCarthy of making a “secret side deal” with President Biden on Ukraine aid to get a short-term funding bill passed hours before the government was set to shut down.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden hoped the House would quickly select a new speaker, saying the “urgent challenges facing our nation will not wait”.

Jean-Pierre added: “The American people deserve leadership that puts the issues affecting their lives front and center.” She added that “Once the House has met their responsibility to elect a speaker, he [Biden] looks forward to working together with them and with the Senate to address the American people’s priorities,”.