WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 11: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks during a news conference with House Republicans about U.S.-Mexico border policy outside the U.S. Capitol on March 11, 2021 in Washington, DC. U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced on Wednesday that over 100,000 people had attempted entry along the southern U.S. border in February, a 28 percent increase from January. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
On Tuesday afternoon, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) was voted out of office in an unparalleled historic vote that has left the lower chamber of Congress in mayhem.
The vote against McCarthy began a few days after he proposed a stopgap bill to prevent a government shutdown, resulting in Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) leading a group of enraged hard-right congressmen to force an effort to oust him.
Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Arizona), Ken Buck (R-Colorado), Tim Burchett (R-Tennicy), Eli Crane (R-Arizona), Bob Good (R-Virginia), Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) and Matt Rosendale (R-Montana) all voted to remove McCarthy.
In addition to the eight Republicans, every Democrat in the chamber also voted against McCarthy.
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Shortly after McCarthy was voted out, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-North Carolina) was declared as temporary speaker. McHenry called for a recess so that Republicans and Democrats can “discuss the path forward.”
McCarthy announced on Tuesday that he will not be running again for House speaker.
“Unfortunately, four percent of our conference can join all the Democrats and dictate who can be the Republican Speaker in this House,” said McCarthy at a press conference. “I don’t think that room is good for the institution, but apparently, I’m the only one. I believe I can continue to fight, maybe in a different manner. I will not run for Speaker again. I’ll have the conference pick somebody else.”
Until a new speaker is elected, the House cannot continue its usual operations.
Republicans will be meeting to choose their next speaker on Tuesday.
Moments after the vote, Gaetz spoke to reporters outside of the House.
“The reason Kevin McCarthy went down today is because nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy. Kevin McCarthy has made multiple contradictory promises. And when they all came due, he lost votes from people who maybe don’t even ideologically agree with me on everything,” stated Gaetz.
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