Gasps and gavels: US Congresss tunned by speaker’s ouster

FIRST IN US HOUSE HISTORY A motion to vacate the chair of Speaker Kevin McCarthy and end his continued leadership as Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives passes by a
vote of 216-210, in this screen grab taken from live C-SPAN television footage shot at the US Capitol in Washington on Oct. 3. —REUTERS

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers screamed and bickered in a raucous session on Tuesday that eventually yielded to a stunned silence: for the first time in US history the House of Representatives had removed its own speaker.

Kevin McCarthy fell victim to a rebellion by a small far-right clutch in his Republican Party that has made life hell for him since he took up the speaker’s gavel in January.

“The office of speaker of the House of the United States House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant,” said Republican Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas, who presided over a crowded, tense session.

McCarthy, a carefully coiffed Californian, looked passive after the vote came down as Democrats declined to come to his rescue and let the small group of lawmakers loyal to Donald Trump eject the speaker in the stunning culmination of an intraparty dispute over spending and other issues.

For hours McCarthy had listened as lawmakers loyal to him tried to resolve the spat, save his job and let the chamber get back to urgent business like deciding on funding for the government and continued aid to Ukraine.

“He has toasted at our weddings. He has celebrated the birth of our children, mourned the loss of our loved ones,” said an emotional McCarthy loyalist Elise Stefanik.

Trust issue

But the forces arrayed against McCarthy were furious as they accused him of breaking promises repeatedly.

“The reason Kevin McCarthy went down today is because nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy,” said Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, the hardliner who introduced the motion to remove the speaker.

Democratic lawmakers from President Joe Biden’s party watched in astonishment as the Republican factions fought each other on their way to making history with the unprecedented political punishment of McCarthy.

The image of one lawmaker, Jim McGovern, summed up the Democratic exasperation: he sighed loudly, holding his head in his hands.

In the end, all 200-plus Democrats in the chamber joined with the hardline Republicans to oust McCarthy.

The hardliners had tried doggedly to block McCarthy from getting the job back in January, forcing him to go through 15 rounds of votes until he finally made enough concessions to appease them and win approval.

Now there is an acting speaker of the House, Rep. Patrick McHenry, until a new one is elected. McHenry slammed the gavel down very hard as he declared the House in recess.

Infighting

The maneuver to oust McCarthy laid bare the chaotic levels of infighting among Republicans heading to the 2024 presidential election almost certainly led by Trump, who is making history of his own as the first former or serving president to be the target of multiple criminal indictments.

The first ouster of a speaker in the House’s 234-year history was supported by only a handful of right-wing Republican hardliners. However, the House is almost evenly divided and with Democrats joining eight rebel Republicans rather than riding to McCarthy’s rescue, he had no way to survive.

The 58-year-old former entrepreneur—who did not comment as he left the chamber—had sparked fury among conservatives when he passed a bipartisan stopgap funding measure at the weekend backed by the White House to avert a government shutdown.

Gaetz gamble

Gaetz, who forced the removal vote, gambled that he could oust McCarthy with just a few Republicans, helped by Democrats loath to bail out a speaker who only recently opened a highly politicized impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Republicans were warned by their leadership about plunging the party “into chaos” but Gaetz, who has repeatedly complained about McCarthy failing to honor agreements made with conservatives, retorted: “Chaos is Speaker McCarthy.”

Gaetz added after the vote: “Kevin McCarthy has made multiple contradictory promises, and when they all came due, he lost.”

Democrats, too, had no love for McCarthy, pointing to his decision to renege on a deal with Biden on spending limits agreed earlier this year in high-stakes talks over the federal budget.

Shutdown averted

Biden issued a statement through his press secretary after McCarthy’s overthrow urging the House to quickly choose a replacement, arguing that the urgent challenges facing the country “will not wait.”The tussle came just days after the House and Senate passed a measure to avert a costly government shutdown—both with big bipartisan majorities—by extending federal funding through mid-November.

Conservatives were furious, seeing their chances dashed for forcing massive budget cuts. They accused McCarthy of a flip-flop, saying he’d promised an end to hastily prepared stopgap legislation, hammered out with the support of the opposition, and a return to budgeting through the committee process.