Kevin McCarthy was ousted as the Speaker of US House of Commons, becoming the first in the country’s 234-year history to be removed from office.
This was orchestrated by his fellow hardliner eight Republican party members with the help of the Democrats.
The vote stood at 216-210, setting the stage for an unprecedented contest to replace McCarthy a year before the presidential election.
Shortly after being removed from the office, the California Republican told reporters that he would not run for the job again.
“I believe I can continue to fight, maybe in a different manner. I will not run for speaker again; I’ll have the conference pick somebody else,” the 58-year-old leader told reporters.
“I ended up being the 55th speaker of the House— one of the greatest honours. I loved every minute,” he said.
McCarthy added that he did not regret standing up for choosing to govern over grievance, adding it was his responsibility and his job.
Hitting out at the Republicans who were responsible for his ouster, McCarthy said, “My fear is the institution fell today because you can’t do the job if eight people, you have 94 per cent of, or 96 per cent of your entire conference, but eight people can partner with the whole other side. How do you govern?”
What led to McCarthy’s ouster?
McCarthy’s run at the speakership lasted for only nine months. His historic removal was the result of a charge led by Florida Republican Matt Gaetz after he cut a deal with Democrats to fund the government for another 45 days — just before it would have otherwise shut down.
When Republicans took control of the House in January, McCarthy was struggling to get the backing of a majority of the House to become speaker.
It is believed that a group of Republicans led by Gaetz withheld their support to extract several concessions from him.
One of their most pressing complaints was the process by which Congress funds the government, which they claim allows for runaway government spending.
Several branches of government departments, like the Pentagon and Homeland Security, are funded through individual appropriations bills that set spending levels for the year ahead.
These bills typically must be passed by Congress and signed by the president by the start of the new fiscal year on October 1 to avoid a government shutdown.
In recent years, however, Congress has missed that deadline. To buy more time, lawmakers pass what’s known in Washington as a “continuing resolution,” which funds the government at current levels for a certain period of time, usually until the holidays.
Then they use this time to club all of the individual spending bills into one massive piece of legislation called an “omnibus” that funds the various departments until the following October, when the cycle repeats again.
Gaetz and his fellow colleagues wanted to put an end to that practice, and return to “regular order” — the consideration and passage of the individual, annual spending bills.
Through this, Gaetz and his colleagues wanted to extract deeper spending cuts than would otherwise be possible through an omnibus bill, which is often hastily approved with less popular provisions tied to must-pass items.
Patrick McHenry is now the acting speaker
Following the historic vote, Republican leader from North Carolina Patrick McHenry took charge as the interim speaker.
According to House rules, McHenry was chosen from a list Kevin McCarthy was required to keep of members who can serve in his position in the event the chair is vacated.
He will serve as the acting speaker — known as speaker pro tempore — until the chamber figures out who will be the next leader.
For McHenry, the interim job marks his most public position to date during his 10 terms in the House, reports AP news agency.
McHenry can serve in the temporary role indefinitely, however, he does not have the power to bring legislation to the floor or take it off.
He is only deemed to have “necessary and appropriate” power for the purpose of electing someone to the job, according to the rules governing the House.
McHenry also does not have the power to issue subpoenas or sign off on any other official House business that would require the approval of the speaker.
The first order of business for McHenry would be to elect a new speaker.
Currently, it is not clear who will the Republicans nominate for the speakership. According to AP news agency, some members wanted to renominate McCarthy and vote for him for speaker until it passes, but with him declaring otherwise, the path is clear for any Republican to jump in.
Some Republicans, including Gaetz, see potential candidates in Majority Leader Steve Scalise or Whip Tom Emmer, while other names that have come up for discussion include Rep. Kevin Hern, chair of the Republican Study Committee, and Rep. Jim Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee and a favourite of the right flank of the party.
Once Republicans decide who to nominate for speaker, the House would have to vote as many times as it takes for a candidate to receive the majority of those present and voting for speaker.
