Kevin McCarthy was ousted as Speaker of the House on Tuesday following a historic vote by fellow GOP members.
According to Reuters, McCarthy’s removal after Congress barely avoided a government shutdown. Eight Republicans, along with 208 Democrats, voted to remove McCarthy in a 216-210 vote, marking the first time in U.S. history that the House removed its speaker. McCarthy says he will not seek another run for the position despite his removal.
"I fought for what I believe in," McCarthy told reporters. "I believe I can continue to fight, but maybe in a different manner."
Matt Gaetz, a republican representative from Florida, led the charge against voting McCarthy out after the now-former House speaker depended on Democratic votes over the weekend to avoid a partial government shutdown.
"Kevin McCarthy is a creature of the swamp. He has risen to power by collecting special interest money and redistributing that money in exchange for favors. We are breaking the fever now," Gaetz told reporters after the vote.
At the present time, Republicans hold control of the House by a narrow 221-212 majority, meaning that they cannot lose more than five votes should some unite with Democrats. With McCarthy out as speaker, legislative activity in the House has been delayed. Meanwhile, the government risks another shutdown on Nov. 17 if Congress does not increase funding.
The White House said it hopes the House can immediately find a replacement speaker since it is still unclear as to who will replace McCarthy.
In recent weeks, McCarthy received increased backlash from Democrats due to his launching an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and barely giving them time to read a stopgap spending bill on Saturday to prevent the government from shutting down that he needed their votes to pass.
Although Democrats could have saved McCarthy, they ultimately decided not to help Republicans resolve their issues.
Possible speakers for the House included Steve Scalise and Tom Emmer, even though neither have publicly expressed interest. Meanwhile, representative Patrick McHenry was temporarily placed in the position.
The previous two GOP speakers, Paul Ryan and John Boehner, retired from Congress following disputes with their own party.
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Win McNamee/Staff
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
