Analysis: How Kevin McCarthy authored his own demise as House Speaker

Unlike in Australia, the coup capital of the democratic world, rolling leaders is not the done thing in Washington DC – until now. This is how it happened and why.

Australians are accustomed to political leaders being ousted by their colleagues. There’s a reason we’re known as the coup capital of the democratic world.

But in Washington DC, despite the constant chaos, rolling leaders has never been the done thing. Until now.

On Wednesday, for the first time since 1910, members of the US House of Representatives were asked if they wanted to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his position – which is second in line to the presidency. For the first time in history, the majority agreed to dump him.

Australia became known as the coup capital of the democratic world after several prime ministers were rolled by their colleagues, most recently Malcolm Turnbull for Scott Morrison. Picture: Kym Smith

It leaves his Republican Party at war, the Congress paralysed and America in chaos. And the irony is that McCarthy was ultimately the author of his own undoing.

Back in January, when the Republicans returned from the midterm elections with a razor-thin majority of 221 members in the 435-seat House, McCarthy fought through 15 ballots to claim the speakership because a group of his hard-right colleagues refused to support him.

To win the top job, he made a series of concessions including a rule change allowing any member of the House to lodge what is called a motion to vacate, which can lead to a vote on removing the Speaker.

Previously, a majority of members in the majority party had to support such a motion to kickstart the challenge. But McCarthy handed the Republican rebels the political equivalent of Chekhov’s gun: a deadly weapon that would inevitably be used against him.

So it was this week, when Florida’s Matt Gaetz pulled the trigger, arguing McCarthy had broken even more of his commitments by turning to Democrats to strike a last-ditch deal on the weekend to keep funding the US government and avoid a disastrous shutdown.

Republican Matt Gaetz led the revolt against his leader. Picture: AFP

With the support of just seven of his colleagues – plus the Democrats who were only too happy to move against McCarthy – Gaetz was able to roll his leader.

He makes a decent case to explain why. America has a whopping $US33 trillion debt bill, and yet Congress has failed for years to properly manage the budget, a trend that has continued despite McCarthy’s promises in January to conservative Republicans.

But as Gaetz’s team fired off fundraising emails while the floor fight played out, it was hard not to conclude his gambit was more about him than the country.

The Republicans do not control the Senate or the White House, so they only have leverage – on the budget, the war in Ukraine, the crisis on the southern US border or any other issue – if they act in unison in the House. Instead, the tyranny of the minority has prevailed.

Originally published as Analysis: How Kevin McCarthy authored his own demise as House Speaker