Republican Kevin McCarthy became the first U.S. House Speaker to be removed from office Tuesday thanks to a handful of rebellious party members.
McCarthy – who served in the job nine months after an intense 15-round struggle to get it in January – said after the vote he would not run for the position again.
The U.S. House of Representatives is now in recess until the Democrats and Republicans can decide on a path forward.
Here’s a look at why McCarthy was ousted, and his eight GOP colleagues who fought to remove him.
Why was McCarthy ousted?
The motion to declare the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant passed 216-210, with all present Democrats voting together and getting the support of eight Republican outliers.
While McCarthy enjoyed support from most Republicans in his slim majority, eight Republican detractors — many of the same hard-right holdouts who tried to stop him from becoming Speaker in January — essentially forced him out.
The eight lawmakers generally voiced frustration with how McCarthy has moved Republican priority legislation through the chamber, namely spending bills. His weekend decision to work with the Democrats to keep the federal government open rather than risk a shutdown only added more fuel to the fire.
Some have said he failed to live up to various agreements he made to become Speaker in January, something he hotly disputed Tuesday when he announced he would not seek the post again.
One of those demands he agreed to was a rule change that allowed any single lawmaker to file the motion to vacate.
Todd Belt, professor and director of political management at George Washington University, told Global News the world has witnessed the “Shakespearean experience of McCarthy.”
“He made a deal that would give him the speakership, which would allow anybody to remove it from him,” he said.
“He wanted that speakership so bad that he made that deal and ultimately it cost him his speakership.”
Who are the eight Republican hardliners?
McCarthy’s chief rival, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, orchestrated his ouster.
The seven other Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy are: Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona, Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana.
Josh Huder, a senior fellow with the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, described the eight Republicans as “anti-establishment.”
“They’re not behind the leaders of their party right now. That’s really what defines them, because ideologically, they’re not all that different,” he told Global News.
“They vote with other Republicans on a lot of other issues. It just seems to be that the choice of leaders and government spending seems to be a real big tipping point for them.”
Gaetz could face political repercussions for his actions, as many Republican lawmakers blame him for the current week’s chaos.
He said McCarthy didn’t follow through on many of the commitments he made to win the Speaker’s job, and that’s what drove him.
“Kevin McCarthy is a feature of the swamp. He has risen to power by collecting special interest money and redistributing that money in exchange for favours,” Gaetz said.
“We are breaking the fever now, and we should elect a Speaker who’s better.”
McCarthy himself described the eight Republicans as “angry” and “chaotic.”
“That’s not the party I belong to. The party of Reagan was if you believed in your principles, that you could govern in a conservative way,” he said Tuesday.
“They are not conservative and they do not have the right to have the title.”
What are the impacts of McCarthy’s ouster?
Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry is now the acting Speaker, and he declared the House in recess until both parties can decide on a path forward.
While McHenry can serve in the temporary role indefinitely, he does not have the full power of a duly elected Speaker, but only those that are deemed “necessary and appropriate” for the purpose of electing someone to the job, according to the rules governing the House.
McHenry will be unable to bring legislation to the floor or take it off. He 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.
With McCarthy not seeking the job again, the path is clear for any Republican to jump in. As of Wednesday, Republican Reps. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio have thrown their hats into the ring.
Belt believes the party will strategize to find a member who can get the majority of the vote next week.
“They do not want this to be another public 15 rounds of voting, which looks like they’re bringing chaos,” he said.
“The key word here is ‘chaos.’ That’s what the American people are seeing, and the Republicans are going to want to put forward someone who is going to bring an end to that perception of their party.”
Huder feels otherwise.
“It’s possible that they want to step back and avoid some of the drama of January, but there’s no guarantee. The divisions that divided Republicans in January still exist here in October,” he said.
“So, what that looks like and what they’re looking for, we’re going to find out in the next few days.”
It’s unclear what the domestic or international impacts from McCarthy’s ouster will be, Huder added.
“The politics that created this insurgency remain there and the divisions remain there despite the fact that there will be a new leader,” he said.
However, the chaos doesn’t present well to international allies like Canada, Belt said.
“This does not reflect well on the United States being the leading democracy in the world and showing to the rest of the world how messy and convoluted our democracy can be,” he added.
— with files from The Associated Press and Reuters
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