California Republican loses narrow vote after failing to fulfill promise to restore ‘Regular Order’ on federal spending process.
Kevin McCarthy became the first-ever speaker of the House of Representatives to be ousted, after eight of the most conservative Republicans on Tuesday gave up on the California Republican’s leadership, saying he failed to deliver on promises he made in January, including especially to fight for cutting federal spending back to pre-COVID pandemic levels.
The California Republican’s shocking loss came on a 216–210 tally.
Among the House GOPers voting to oust Mr. McCarthy in addition to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) were Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn), Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Cory Mills (R-Fla.), and Eli Crane (R-Ariz.).
Just before the vote to oust, 207 Democrats and 11 Republicans defeated a motion offered by Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) to table Mr. Gaetz’s motion to vacate the speaker’s chair. The vote on the motion to table was 218–210. Then after a raucous hour of debate, the House voted 216–210 to oust Mr. McCarthy, with all Democrats voting with the Gaetz-led rebels.
Key to understanding why the day’s events came about as they did is found in one word, “trust,” according to multiple Republican House members interviewed by The Epoch Times, most of whom spoke on background.
Mr. Gaetz was joined in voting for his Motion to Vacate (MTV) by seven Republicans who together formed the core of opposition to Mr. McCarthy that began coalescing in April, festered through the August recess, and is now at the center of a leadership crisis that is massively disrupting the legislative process.
Mr. Gaetz offered the MTV on Oct. 2 that put Mr. McCarthy’s position in jeopardy and forced him to resort to support—direct or indirect—from Democrats or to somehow persuade some of his opponents to reverse themselves in the interest of avoiding politically ruinous legislative chaos.
But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) announced a few hours before the Oct. 3 vote that he was telling Democrats to support the MTV to oust Mr. McCarthy. Mr. Jeffries’s move didn’t necessarily help Mr. McCarthy’s opponents, however, as shortly after the minority leader’s announcement, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a staunch critic of the speaker, told The Epoch Times that “bottom line, we CANNOT LET JEFFRIES control who our speaker!! Will vote against the MTV.”
