This was published 11 months ago
Congress plunged into chaos after Kevin McCarthy ousted as House Speaker
By Farrah Tomazin
Washington: The US Congress has been plunged into chaos after Republican extremists succeeded in ousting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his job, paving the way for bruising intraparty war ahead of next year’s election.
Days after he worked with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown, McCarthy faced an extraordinary mutiny led by a small band of far-right colleagues furious about his actions.
Ousted: US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.Credit: Scott Applewhite
The move marks the first time in US history that a House Speaker has been removed through a vote against him and essentially leaves Congress paralysed with about 40 days to avert another potential shutdown looming in mid-November.
But in a press conference after the vote, McCarthy hit out at his detractors and defended his decisions, declaring: “I wouldn’t change a thing”.
“If [Ronald] Reagan gave us advice he would say: if you believe your principles bring people greater freedom, you should be happy about it.
“I don’t regret my efforts to build coalitions and find solutions.”
Mutiny leader and fellow Republican, Florida Representative Matt Gaetz.Credit: AP
The ouster represents the first time anyone has tested the new “motion to vacate” rule that McCarthy agreed to in January in order to obtain enough support to become Speaker.
The rule essentially made it easier for far-right rebels in his own party to oust him by reducing the number of votes needed.
But his ongoing attempts to appease his right flank didn’t work, leading to the motion being introduced by Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, a loyal ally of former president Donald Trump.
Gaetz has often accused McCarthy of breaking promises to conservatives to cut spending. The last straw was the decision to work with Democrats to pass a last-minute stopgap bill that prevented the US government running out of money, at least for now.
He also claimed McCarthy had made a secret deal with Democrats about ongoing funding for Ukraine – something that Gaetz and other Republicans oppose.
Trump himself weighed in on social media while attending his own fraud trial in New York by asking: “Why is it that Republicans are always fighting among themselves, why aren’t they fighting the Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our country?”
The Speaker of the House is second in the line of succession after the vice president in the event the president becomes unable to serve.
Chief deputy whip and McCarthy ally Patrick McHenry is now serving as the temporary Speaker, but has adjourned the House while Republicans – who had not settled on a replacement in the event their coup was successful – work out a way forward.
While McCarthy could have defeated the challenge if enough Democrats voted to save him, it became clear early on this was not likely.
After a strategy meeting called by Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday morning, the overwhelming feeling among members was that the onus was on Republicans to save their own party from extremists in their ranks.
Democrats were particularly aggrieved that McCarthy launched an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, reneged on a bipartisan deal over the debt ceiling and continued to support Trump after the January 6 Capitol attack.
“We encourage our Republican colleagues who claim to be more traditional to break from the extremists, end the chaos, end the dysfunction, end the extremism,” Jeffries told reporters after his caucus meeting.
“We are ready, willing and able to work together with our Republican colleagues, but it is on them to join us.”
McCarthy, however, continued to put up a confident front ahead of the vote, despite the fact he could only afford to lose a handful of Republican votes in order to save his job.
“I’m an optimist because there’s no point in being anything else,” he told reporters ahead of the vote. “It is what it is.”
Asked if he would put his hand up for speakership again if he lost the job, he replied: “We’ll see what happens.”
But by lunchtime, his fate seemed all but sealed when Jeffries sent a letter to caucus members saying: “Given their unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism in an authentic manner, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican Motion to Vacate the Chair.”
Former speaker Nancy Pelosi – who was not present to vote because she was in California mourning the death of late Senator Dianne Feinstein – also weighed in.
“The Speaker of the House is chosen by the majority party. In this Congress, it is the responsibility of House Republicans to choose a nominee and elect the Speaker on the floor. At this time, there is no justification for a departure from this tradition,” she said.
Earlier, McCarthy sought to head off his removal with a procedural vote that would have killed off Gaetz’s motion, but in an ominous sign, he couldn’t get the numbers. Republicans control the House by five votes, with 218 seats to 222.
In the end, the motion to vacate him succeeded. Eight Republicans sided with Democrats: Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Ken Buck, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Bob Good, Matt Rosendale and Nancy Mace.
The escalation of tensions within the Republican Party comes after Congress on Saturday was able to pass a stopgap bill to avoid what would have been the federal government’s fourth partial shutdown in a decade and allow money to continue flowing – at least for now.
Had a shutdown occurred – which looked all but inevitable until the 11th hour – millions of troops and public servants would have been furloughed or left without pay, travellers could have faced airport chaos across the country and poor families would have struggled to access much-needed services and food assistance.
The stopgap bill will instead keep agencies open until mid-November and funded at current levels, allowing Congress to buy some time as it works on a longer-term solution. Tuesday’s events, however, have left the House in a state of limbo.
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