The United States House of Representatives votes to oust Kevin McCarthy as Speaker

Patrick McHenry of North Carolina will reportedly preside over the House until a new leader is elected.

WASHINGTON (AP) – On Tuesday, dissident Republicans in the United States House voted with Democrats to depose Kevin McCarthy as speaker, a historic action that occurred just nine months after he won the gavel after days of bargaining with the GOP's right flank and 15 rounds of voting.

After the vote, it was unclear how the House would move in the next days, having entered unknown ground. The House has never previously ousted a speaker. Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina was chosen speaker pro tem until a new speaker is elected.

A move to vacate is defeated by a vote of 216 to 210. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida filed on Monday evening, capping up months of building opposition among a tiny handful of House Republicans.

McCarthy was removed by Republican Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Gaetz, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Matt Rosendale of Montana.

They also voted against tabling the motion, which occurred immediately before the vote and would have halted the process.

Warren Davidson of Ohio, Cory Mills of Florida, and Victoria Spartz of Indiana voted against the motion to table but in favor of maintaining McCarthy as speaker.

All House Democrats present voted to proclaim the speakership vacant.

There have only been three occurrences so far where A move to vacate was filed three times: once in March 1910, once in July 2015, and once this month.

There have only been three motions to vacate in history

McCarthy stated before the vote that he was calling Gaetz's bluff, yet he looked to accept his ouster as speaker.

"At the end of the day, if you throw a speaker out that has 99% of their conference, that kept the government open and paid the troops — I think we're in a really bad place for how we're going to run Congress," McCarthy stated.

The California Republican said he thought his backing for a bipartisan short-term financing agreement that prevented a partial government shutdown on Saturday was the "right decision."

"I stand by that decision and will continue to do so." At the end of the day, if it means losing my job, so be it," McCarthy added. "I'll continue to fight."

McCarthy chastised

McCarthy has been publicly chastised by Gaetz and other hard-line conservatives for failing to honor a confidential bargain he reached with them in January to earn the speakership.

Some Republicans in the Freedom Caucus have criticized McCarthy for reaching an arrangement with President Joe Biden in May to prevent a debt default and for depending on Democratic votes to approve the short-term government budget package.

Gaetz, addressing on the House floor on Monday, pressed McCarthy to reveal whether he had struck a private deal with Biden to conduct a vote on legislation. This would offer Ukraine with extra assistance in its struggle against the Russian invasion. He also chastised McCarthy for allegedly including border security in those conversations.

"I get that a lot of folks might disagree with my perspectives on the border or Ukraine," Gaetz stated. "But could we at least agree that no matter how you feel about Ukraine or the Southern border, they each deserve the dignity of their own consideration and should not be rolled together."

Just before the vote, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries sent a "Dear Colleague" letter declaring that House Democrats will vote to remove the chair.

"Given their unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism in a genuine and comprehensive way, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican legislation." Jeffries wrote, "Motion to Vacate the Chair."

The Republican dissidents who voted to remove McCarthy make up a small percentage of the House Republican Conference, many of whom supported McCarthy on the floor Tuesday and praised his record.

'He did the right thing,' say Republicans

"He's being punished because he did the right thing on Saturday and made sure that the government didn't shut down, and we bought more time to continue the appropriations process," Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole told reporters.

McCarthy's move to table was proposed by Cole.

Arkansas Republican Rep. Steve Womack told reporters before the vote that the move to vacate was a "fool's errand."

Womack, a member of the Appropriations Committee, believes Republicans should Priority should be given to passing all 12 appropriations measures by the new mid-November deadline.

"We just brought the country to the brink of a shutdown for what?" "We're moving the remainder of our appropriation bills," Womack added. "We need to finish our work, and the only way to do that is to pass the rule and get these bills across the floor and move to the Senate in conference."

South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson told media Gaetz's request for a motion to vacate shown that McCarthy has "middle school grudges" against him.

"I believe Matt (Gaetz) is making a huge mistake," Johnson stated. "I believe his efforts will make America less prosperous." "I believe that chaos has not served this country well." Republican Rep. Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma told reporters she was suspicious of the reasons given for McCarthy's removal as speaker.

"Don't be misled: this isn't about the appropriations process. (Gaetz) want to discuss the fact that we should have completed our (appropriations) job in August. Look, nothing happened. So now is the moment, and instead of concentrating on that for the next 43 days, we'll concentrate on this," Bice explained.

Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania told reporters that Republicans should prioritize passing legislation to properly fund the government and working to deliver help to Ukraine.

"If we leave, the government will shut down, our credit rating will suffer, and interest rates will rise." "Go up," Fitzpatrick advised. "Ukraine will be victimized, and Russia will win the war." That is the issue at hand."

Democrats applaud behind closed doors

Democrats convened behind closed doors for over 90 minutes Tuesday morning to chart a course of action that would allow members to speak for up to one minute regarding the move to vacate. From the corridor outside the meeting, applauding and cheering could be heard.

McCarthy, Democratic legislators argued after the meeting, had not developed trust.

Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire told reporters that the party has "unity of purpose" ahead of the election.

"What has happened, as you and the American people have witnessed, is that the current speaker has chosen to cater to special interests." to the point where, in my opinion, it's sort of a post-truth world," Kuster added. "I think you can see that within his own caucus, but you can certainly see it in the way he's treated us and the American people."

Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington state, told reporters that the House GOP may "wallow in their pigsty of incompetence and inability to govern."

Democrats, according to Jayapal, do not feel the need to resolve Republican infighting over who should be speaker. She also pointed out that McCarthy has consistently breached trust with Democrats, making the party wary of assisting him in retaining the speakership.

"No one believes Kevin McCarthy, and why should we?" He has shattered his "It takes a lot of commitment," Jayapal remarked.

McCarthy, according to Jayapal, has made a series of mistakes that have destroyed any Democratic support he might have had. These include his public remarks following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters, his decision to withdraw from a spending agreement he and Biden negotiated earlier this year, and his refusal to bring a measure to the floor to offer extra help to Ukraine.

"Kevin McCarthy stood on the House floor and said one thing and then talked to Donald Trump and immediately did something else," Jayapal stated. "He has supported the insurrectionist president that enabled January 6 to happen and tried to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power."

Jeffries, a New Yorker Before the vote, York Democrat, said the party will "continue to put people over politics and fight to make life better for everyday Americans."

"From the very beginning that has been our objective and it will continue to be our sole focus," Jeffries stated. "We encourage our Republican colleagues, who claim to be more traditional, to break from the extremists."

Democrats, according to Jeffries, are "ready, willing, and able to collaborate with GOP lawmakers."

"But it is on them to join us to move the Congress and the country forward," Jeffries stated.

Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Richard Neal told reporters following the closed-door meeting that there wasn't "a lot of goodwill in that room for Kevin McCarthy."

"If you're going to bargain, you have to be prepared." must bargain with someone you can trust and who will maintain their word," Neal explained. "And there's not been a lot of evidence that Kevin McCarthy has kept his word along the way."

Spending disagreements, Ukraine

Congress adopted a short-term deal to fund the government until Nov. 17, just hours before a shutdown would have occurred this weekend. The interim bill was approved by the House by a vote of 335-91, with 90 Republicans voting no. The bill was adopted by the Senate 88-9, with nine Republicans voting no.

The agreement did not include more financing for Ukraine, but Biden said on Sunday that he and McCarthy had promised to find the votes required to enact a supplementary package including military help and humanitarian aid for the war-torn country as it defends itself against further invasion. as a result of Russia.

The interim financing agreement to prevent a government shutdown was not McCarthy's sole collaboration with Democrats to escape financial disaster. In May, the speaker reached an agreement with Biden to increase the debt ceiling and prevent the United States from defaulting on its creditors.

The agreement, known as the Fiscal Responsibility Act, was signed into law and includes agreed-upon expenditure amounts for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

During this year's appropriations process, McCarthy was unable to unite his far-right members around the predetermined spending levels, bringing the federal government within hours of a partial shutdown.

McCarthy has been chastised by House Republicans on the far right even before he received the gavel.

McCarthy's route to become Speaker of the House in January took 15 months. During a four-day impasse, more than a dozen far-right extremists barred him from voting.

The California Republican triumphed on the 15th ballot after making significant concessions to his party's ultra-conservative fringe, including a tweak to the motion to vacate that allows any single member to effectively call for a vote of no-confidence in the speaker.

McCarthy also reserved seats on important committees for far-right members and struck a handshake agreement with House Freedom Caucus members, agreeing to decrease expenditure levels.