2023-10-03 20:54:48
– Historic vote: Kevin McCarthy removed as leader of the House of Representatives
For the first time in US history, a leader of the House of Representatives has been removed from his powerful post by a parliamentary vote.
Published: October 3, 2023, 10:54 p.m. Updated 3 hours ago
In a historic first, the US House of Representatives removed its Republican leader Kevin McCarthy. The majority of MPs voted on Tuesday in favor of a proposal from right-wing hardliner Matt Gaetz to oust McCarthy from the top chamber of Congress. McCarthy lost an internal party power struggle in the dispute over budget policy and was deposed as the first House of Representatives chairman in US history.
216 representatives voted to remove the 58-year-old politician from the state of California – eight Republicans from the right wing of the party and 208 representatives from President Joe Biden’s Democrats. 210 Republican MPs voted against removal.
Gaetz, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, filed a motion to remove McCarthy from office on Monday evening. The background is the dispute over the budget freeze that was averted at the last minute at the weekend. McCarthy had agreed with the Democrats in the House of Representatives on a compromise to finance the US federal authorities until November 17th in order to prevent a so-called shutdown.
Gaetz, who is insisting on massive spending cuts, has sharply criticized McCarthy for this. He also accuses McCarthy of having made a “secret” agreement with President Joe Biden for new aid to Ukraine.
“You can boo as much as you want”
Before the vote in the plenary, Gaetz engaged in heated exchanges with other Republicans who supported McCarthy. “You can boo all you want,” he shouted at one point. McCarthyites warned that removing the chairman would “paralyze” the chamber of Congress, turn the population against the Republicans and ultimately benefit the Democrats.
McCarthy still had the support of the large majority of Republican representatives. However, the conservatives in the House of Representatives only have such a narrow majority that five right-wing Republican hardliners would have been enough to overthrow McCarthy if the Democrats voted unanimously against the chairman.
McCarthy made it clear on Tuesday that he would not make any deals with the Democrats to stay in office. The Democratic leadership, in turn, made it clear that it does not see it as its job to prevent the Republican from being removed – even if this could lead to chaos in the House of Representatives.
McCarthy took over the leadership of the House of Representatives at the beginning of the year after Republicans won a narrow majority in the November 2022 congressional midterm elections. It was clear from the start that McCarthy would have a difficult time in the face of resistance from the far-right wing of his party. He needed 15 ballots in January to be elected leader of the House of Congress.
US President Biden is pushing for a successor solution
After the removal of Republican House of Representatives Chairman Kevin McCarthy, US President Joe Biden called on the Chamber of Congress to quickly elect a successor. “The urgent challenges facing our country will not wait,” said Biden spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday. The President therefore hopes that the House of Representatives will “quickly” elect a new chairman.
“The American people deserve political leaders who will put the issues that shape their lives front and center,” Jean-Pierre continued. “President Biden has proven that he always wants to work with both parties in Congress (…) for the American people.” The Democratic Party politician is already looking forward to working with the future leadership of the House of Representatives.
New elections will take place next week at the earliest
After the historic vote-out of the chairman of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, his successor will not be decided until next week at the earliest. The members of the Chamber of Parliament were informed on Tuesday evening that no further votes were expected this week. This emerges, among other things, from a circular email from the Democratic group to its own MPs. The US Parliament is currently completely paralyzed by the drama. Until a successor to McCarthy is elected, all remaining legislative work is on hold.
Several Republican MPs – McCarthy opponents Matt Gaetz and Bob Good – said on Tuesday evening after an internal caucus meeting that the acting chairman of the chamber, Republican Patrick McHenry, had announced that possible successor candidates should be given a few days to make their ambitions public and to canvass for votes within our own ranks. According to Gaetz and Good, the Republicans will meet again on Tuesday a week for an internal meeting in which potential successors can introduce themselves. Only then should an election be scheduled in the plenary session.
McHenry is only temporarily employed for formal tasks, but he does not fill the chairman role politically. It is unclear who could become the next leader of the House of Representatives. McCarthy announced he would not run for the post again.
Chaos in the US House of Representatives
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