An American first: McCarthy ousted as Speaker of the House

Representative Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his position as Speaker of the House on Oct. 3 in a vote of 216 to 210. The action is unprecedented, and leaves the House of Representatives without a speaker until a new one is voted in.

An interim Speaker – Patrick McHenry – was selected following the vote to remove McCarthy from his position. McHenry was one of McCarthy’s selections to succeed his position for the interim in the event of an ousting.

McHenry’s power as interim speaker is limited and ABC news reports that he will focus on making sure the House elects a new speaker, as rules currently state that the House cannot act on new legislation until a new speaker is elected. Whether those rules can be adjusted to allow representatives to take action on time-contingent matters – such as government funding – will be seen in the coming days and weeks.

The vote for a new speaker might take place as soon as Oct. 11, according to NPR. It will likely be contentious due to conditions in the House of Representatives and political tensions in the nation at large.

McCarthy’s short-lived speakership came after long deliberation and 15 rounds of voting by the House in January. He won the position only by making concessions to a small group of House Republicans – most of whom are part of the House Freedom Caucus. McCarthy needed their votes because Republicans have a slim majority in the House of Representatives. One concession made was a change to House rules to allow for a single representative to force a vote on the removal of the speaker.

Representative Matt Gaetz used the new rule to force the vote after he and other House Republicans voiced opposition to the temporary government funding bill – negotiated in part by McCarthy – passed by the House on Sept. 3, narrowly preventing a government shutdown.

Many media agencies reported that McCarthy came under fire In May and June of this year by the same group of Republicans responsible for his ousting when he struck a bipartisan deal to suspend the debt ceiling until 2025. According to an article from NPR, Representative Scott Perry – a member of the Freedom Caucus – said that the debt deal “fails completely.”

The ousting leaves many officials fearing a government shutdown come Nov. 17, when the temporary funding bill is set to expire. Echoing this fear, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told The Hill, “There are clearly a few choices that they could make that make it almost certain we go into a shutdown posture.” Whether or not the House is back in order by the November deadline remains up in the air.