The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday ousted Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the first time in U.S. History that a sitting speaker has been removed, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The vote occurred nine months after McCarthy was elected speaker, a tenure spent fighting with Republican hard-line conservatives and a few days after the speaker had managed to avoid a government shutdown, the Journal reported.
“Unfortunately, 4% of our conference can join all the Democrats and dictate who could be the Republican speaker in this House,” McCarthy said, the Journal reported. “I will not run for speaker again.”
McCarthy's decision to stay out of the race for speaker produced a "scramble" among Republicans to find a new leader, with a vote as early as next Wednesday, according to the story.
Possible candidates include House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R.- La.), ad U.S. Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas),
Jim Jordan (R- Ohio), and Kevin Hern (R-Okla.).
Republicans hold a thin majority in the House (221-212) and when McCarthy was elected speaker in January, he agreed to a rule that any House member could call a vote to oust the speaker.
The Journal reported that during a news conference on Tuesday, McCarthy said the next speaker should “change the rules."
McCarthy attributed his ouster to a personal vendetta by U.S. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who said the speaker had failed to keep promises on spending bills and how he would govern the House, according to the Journal.
Gaetz and seven other Republicans joined with all of the House Democrats to oust McCarthy, with the former Speaker putting all House work on hold until his successor is elected, the Journal reported. That work includes coming up with a plan to fund the government with another shutdown looming in November.
Other Republican priorities include border security, an impeachment investigation into the finances of President Biden and his family, and government spending cuts, the Journal said.
In the upcoming budget fight with the U.S. Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, funding for Ukraine and money for tighter border security could help build GOP support, McCarthy has suggested, the story said.
“Today was a sad day for the Republican Party, because every day that goes on where we don’t have a speaker is a day we don’t have an impeachment
inquiry,” U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R., Ky.) told Fox News. “It’s a day that goes by where we can’t pass conservative appropriations bills. It’s a day that passes
that we aren’t advocating for border security."
