In the 234-year history of the institution, the Republican is the first official to be removed by his peers.
Tuesday’s vote to remove California Republican Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker was carried by 216 votes to 210. McCarthy has seen staunch criticism from the right during his brief term for reaching a compromise with Democrats on federal financing and aid to Ukraine.
Monday saw the introduction of a resolution to remove McCarthy by Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, two days after McCarthy rallied GOP senators to approve a measure funding the US government through November 17. Gaetz threatened to remove McCarthy if the bill passed together with a group of hardline conservatives, and they rejected any attempt to fund multiple government departments in one bill.
Gaetz was able to start the McCarthy removal process because of a compromise made in January between the California Republican and Gaetz’s allies in the “Freedom Caucus,” in which the hardliners agreed to support him in his bid for speaker in exchange for the right to do so if they lost faith in his ability to lead.
Shortly after the vote, Gaetz attacked McCarthy as “a feature of the swamp.” He told reporters, “It’s good for this country that we have a better speaker of the House than Kevin McCarthy.
Gaetz accused the former speaker of making “a secret side-deal” with President Joe Biden despite McCarthy’s removal of military help for the Ukrainian army from the budget package. McCarthy, Gaetz said on Monday, had divulged the specifics of the alleged pact to Republican senators.
The Republicans avoided a potential government shutdown by agreeing on Saturday night to adopt a last-minute 45-day stopgap budget plan. McCarthy defended his record by saying, “I kept [the] government open so the families of our troops and border agents could get paid.” “A fight worth having if a few Republicans side with Democrats to remove me for that.”
Republican from North Carolina Patrick McHenry was appointed temporary speaker while McCarthy’s replacement was chosen.
In January, amid opposition from conservative Republicans like Gaetz and Representative Lauren Boebert, McCarthy was chosen as speaker on the 15th ballot. McCarthy’s 269 days in office as House speaker are the second-shortest in US history, trailing only Michael C. Kerr’s 257 days and death in office in 1876.
