Kevin McCarthy made history Tuesday — becoming the first speaker of the House of Representatives to be ousted by a floor vote with the help of members of his own party.
Eight Republicans — Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Matt Rosendale of Montana — banded together with a fully united Democrat conference to declare the office of speaker vacant by a vote of 216-210, removing McCarthy (R-Calif.) from power and thrusting the chamber into chaos as it faces a grinding process to pick his replacement.
The prospect of a revolt against McCarthy, 58, had been dangled for several months by Gaetz, his chief Republican antagonist.
Gaetz, 41, finally went ahead with the motion to vacate Monday night, after a weekend of stewing over the speaker’s decision to call up a stopgap spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown — and rely on Democratic votes to get the measure through.
“If five Republicans go with Democrats, I’m out,” McCarthy told reporters Tuesday morning, before predicting: “I’m confident I’ll hold on.”
But the California’s demise became a matter of time when a motion to block Gaetz’s effort failed 218-208. Reps. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) voted against the motion to table, but to keep McCarthy in place.
However, with only 426 House members casting votes, McCarthy needed 214 supporters to keep his speakership.
The failed motion to table triggered one hour of debate between McCarthy’s supporters and opponents in the Republican party, with the latter group debating from the Democratic side of the House floor.
“We need a speaker who will fight for something, anything besides staying or becoming speaker,” declared Good, who assailed McCarthy for both the debt limit deal he reached with the Biden administration earlier this year and the maneuvering to avoid a shutdown.
“We need a speaker — ideally somebody who doesn’t want to be speaker and hasn’t pursued that at all costs for his entire adult life — who will meet the moment, and do everything possible to fight for the country.”
McCarthy’s ally, House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) followed Good with an impassioned defense of the former speaker.