Historic revolt seen as latest test for US Congress gripped by internal strife, budget concerns
Kevin McCarthy, a member of the United States House of Representatives, speaks to reporters on Oct 3 at the Capitol in Washington, hours after he was ousted as House speaker in an extraordinary showdown. (PHOTO / AP)
For the first time in the history of the United States, the House of Representatives ousted its speaker, Republican Kevin McCarthy, plunging the lower chamber of Congress into turmoil and paralysis until a new leader is elected.
“The office of Speaker of the House of the United States House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant,” said presiding Arkansas Republican Steve Womack after the 216-210 vote to remove McCarthy on Oct 3.
His removal left the House roiling. Lawmakers fled the chamber after the vote, some speechless at what they had witnessed. The essential institution no longer has an elected leader, the latest testing moment for a body grappling with the aftermath of the Capitol siege on Jan 6, 2021, a Republican Party at war with itself and the US’ contested role in global leadership, The Associated Press said.
Hours after the vote, McCarthy told Republican colleagues that he will not run for speaker again.
“I will not run for speaker again,” he told reporters after a closed-door meeting with GOP lawmakers on Oct 3.
With McCarthy out, a temporary speaker put the House into recess as Republicans gathered to discuss picking a replacement.
Republican Representative Patrick McHenry was named interim speaker. He told GOP lawmakers they will hold a candidate forum on Oct 10 and an election for speaker on Oct 11.
One of McHenry’s first acts in the temporary position was to oust Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi from her honorary office at the Capitol while she was away in California to pay tribute to Senator Dianne Feinstein, who died last week.
But it was unclear who might seek to succeed McCarthy.
The first ouster of a speaker in the House’s 234-year history was supported by only a handful of right-wing Republican hard-liners.
However, with the House almost evenly divided and Democrats joining eight rebel Republicans rather than riding to McCarthy’s rescue, he had no way to survive.
The 58-year-old former entrepreneur had sparked fury among conservatives when he passed a bi-partisan stopgap funding measure over the weekend backed by the White House to avert a government shutdown.
Florida conservative Matt 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.
“The reason Kevin McCarthy went down today is that nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz said. “Kevin McCarthy has made multiple contradictory promises, and when they all came due, he lost.”
Democrats pointed 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.
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 to force massive budget cuts.
They accused McCarthy of a flipflop, saying he had 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.
The ousted speaker, who got the gavel in a marathon 15 rounds of balloting in January, did not immediately endorse a successor.
His decision not to run again sets up a potential showdown among McCarthy’s lieutenants — most likely House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer.
Former president Donald Trump, who is facing 91 felony charges and was in court on Oct 3 in New York as a defendant in a civil fraud trial, berated his fellow Republicans on his social media platform for “always fighting among themselves”.
Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.
