Historic vote
The narrow 216-210 vote marked the first time in history that the House of Representatives had removed its leader, with eight Republicans voting and 208 Democrats unanimously voting to remove Mr McCarthy.
Mr. Kevin McCarthy has been removed from the position of Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Photo: NBC
The uprising was led by Rep. Matt Gaetz, a far-right Republican from Florida who opposed McCarthy. Gaetz has accused his party’s leadership of not doing enough to cut the federal budget or stand up to Democratic President Joe Biden.
This is seen as the latest incident in a year when the Republican-controlled House of Representatives pushed the US Government to the brink of bankruptcy and nearly had to partially shut down recently.
Republicans control the House of Representatives by a narrow 221-212 margin, meaning they would need no more than five votes to oust Mr McCarthy if Democrats maintain their opposition as they have always done.
And that happened in the recent vote despite Mr. McCarthy's great contribution in cooperating with Democratic President Joe Biden in two cases to prevent the US government from defaulting and shutting down in just the past few months.
McCarthy's ouster essentially halts legislative activity in the House of Representatives. It will further destabilize US politics as the federal government has until November 17 to extend its spending budget or face another shutdown.
The White House said it hopes the House of Representatives will quickly select a new Speaker, the most important position in the US government after the President and Vice President. According to sources, Mr. McCarthy will not intend to run for re-election.
Why didn't the Democrats save McCarthy?
Despite his willingness to negotiate with President Biden on federal financial issues, McCarthy has repeatedly angered Democrats in recent weeks, including launching an impeachment inquiry into Biden.
Democrats could have saved Mr McCarthy, but after some deliberation, they said they would not break with their tradition of standing on the other side, and would not help Republicans solve their own problems.
As a result, McCarthy did not win any support from Democrats in the vote, although there was speculation that some might vote for him to keep the House stable.
Democrats said they viewed McCarthy as untrustworthy after he broke a spending deal with Biden in May. “Let them wallow in their incompetence,” Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal told reporters before the vote.
Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace told reporters that she voted to remove McCarthy because he had broken promises to her on improving access to birth control and other issues. “When you shake my hand and make a promise and you don’t keep it, there are consequences,” she said.
Other Republican leaders such as Steve Scalise and Tom Emmer are possible candidates to replace Mr McCarthy, although neither has publicly expressed interest. Patrick McHenry is currently serving as acting nominee.
Huy Hoang (according to Reuters, Politico, NBC)
Source
Comment (0)