North Carolina's Patrick McHenry will serve as Speaker of the House until new leadership is elected.
WASHINGTON - Dissident Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday along with Democrats in favor of removing Speaker Kevin McCarthy from office. The historic move comes just nine months after he won the gavel after days of negotiations with the right wing of the Republican Party and 15 votes. was held.
It was not immediately clear how the next few days would proceed as the House broke new ground after the vote. No speaker has ever been removed from the House of Representatives. North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry has been named interim speaker until a new speaker is selected. The 216-210 vote in favor of a repeal petition filed Monday night by Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz ends months of growing disagreement among a small number of House Republicans. It sank.
Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona, Rep. Gates, Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, and Rep. Nancy of South Carolina. Rep. Mace and Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana voted to remove Mr. McCarthy from office.
They also voted against filing a motion that was filed just before the vote and would have prevented the process from moving forward. Warren Davidson of Ohio, Corey Mills of Florida, and Victoria Spartz of Indiana voted against the submission but voted to keep McCarthy as speaker.
All Democrats present in the House voted to leave the Speaker's position vacant.
To date, only three eviction applications have been filed: one in March 1910, one in July 2015, and one this month.
There have been only three abolition petitions in history.
Mr. McCarthy said before the vote that he would call Mr. Gaetz's bluff, but appeared to agree that he should be removed as chairman.
"At the end of the day, when it comes to getting rid of a chairman who controlled 99% of the conference, kept the government open, and paid the military, I think we're in a really bad place in terms of how to proceed. ``It should move forward in Congress,'' McCarthy said.
The California Republican said he believed his support for passing a bipartisan short-term spending bill on Saturday, preventing a partial government shutdown, was the “right decision.”
“I stand by that decision and at the end of the day, if I have to lose my job over it, so be it,” McCarthy said. “I’ll continue to fight.”
McCarthy excoriated
Gaetz and other hard-line conservatives have publicly rebuked McCarthy for not holding to a private deal he struck with them in January in order to secure the speakership.
The group of GOP lawmakers, some of whom are in the Freedom Caucus, have lamented McCarthy striking an agreement with President Joe Biden in May to avoid a default on the nation’s debt and for relying on Democratic votes to pass the short-term government spending bill.
Gaetz, speaking Monday on the floor, called on McCarthy to detail whether he had brokered a private deal with Biden to hold a vote on legislation that would provide additional aid to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. He also criticized McCarthy for reportedly adding border security to those talks.
“I get that a lot of folks might disagree with my perspectives on the border or Ukraine,” Gaetz said. “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.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries released a “Dear Colleague” letter just before the vote announcing House Democrats would vote to vacate the chair.
“Given their unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican Motion to Vacate the Chair,” Jeffries wrote.
The group of Republican dissenters who voted to remove McCarthy represents a small fraction of the House Republican Conference, many of whom backed McCarthy on the floor Tuesday and defended his record.
GOP supporters: ‘He did the right thing’
“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,” GOP Rep. Oklahoma's Tom Cole told reporters.
Cole offered to file the motion on McCarthy's behalf.
Rep. Steve Womack, R-Arkansas, told reporters before the vote that the secession motion was a distraction and "stupid."
Womack, who serves on the Appropriations Committee, said Republicans should focus on passing all 12 budget proposals by the new deadline of mid-November.
“We almost shut down the country, but for what? We are deferring the rest of our household expenses,” Womack said. “We need to get the job done, and the only way to do that is to pass the rules and get these bills passed and brought to the Senate floor.”
Representative Dusty Johnson of South Dakota told reporters that calls for Gates' resignation showed there was "middle school resentment" toward McCarthy.
"I think Matt (Gates) is making a big mistake," Johnson said. “I think America will be less wealthy because of his efforts. I don't think chaos is good for this country. ”
Oklahoma Republican Rep. Stephanie Bice told reporters she was skeptical about the motivations of some to remove McCarthy as speaker.
"This is not about the approval process, so don't be fooled. (Gaetz) wants to talk about how he should have done the (center's) job in August. Look, that didn't happen. . The time is now and we're going to focus on this instead of focusing on this for the next 43 days,” Bice said.
Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania told reporters that Republicans should focus on passing legislation to fully fund the government and get aid to Ukraine.
"If we leave office, the government will shut down, credit ratings will go down and interest rates will go up," Fitzpatrick said. “Ukraine will become a victim and lose this war to Russia. That's what this is about. ”
Dispute over costs, Ukraine
Hours before the government shutdown began this weekend, Congress passed a short-term bill that would fund the government through Nov. 17. The House of Representatives passed the emergency resolution bill by a vote of 335 to 91, with 90 Republicans voting against it. Senators approved the bill 88-9, with nine Republicans voting against it.
The deal did not include additional funding for Ukraine, but Biden on Sunday moved to pass an additional package of military and humanitarian assistance to the war-torn country resisting renewed Russian aggression. He said he and Mr. McCarthy had agreed to find the votes needed to . Mr. McCarthy's emergency funding bill to avert a government shutdown wasn't the only time he worked with Democrats to avert a financial crisis. The chairman reached a deal with Biden in May to raise his debt ceiling and prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its debt.
The agreement, which took effect as the Fiscal Responsibility Act, included agreed spending levels for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
Mr. McCarthy was unable to unite far-right lawmakers on spending levels set during this year's spending process, which will send the federal government into a partial shutdown within hours. Far-right House members threatened Mr. McCarthy even before he picked up the gavel.
It took 15 votes for Mr. McCarthy to become speaker in January, with a four-day stalemate in which more than a dozen far-right conservatives blocked him.
California Republicans won Tuesday's vote after making several concessions to the party's ultra-conservative wing. This includes amending the resignation motion to basically allow any member to request a vote of no confidence in the speaker.
Mr. McCarthy also secured handshake deals with members of the House Freedom Caucus, pledging to save seats on key committees for far-right politicians and cut spending.
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