(Photo courtesy of ABC7NY). “Kevin McCarthy at a lecturn.”

Eric Schultz
Connector Staff

On October 3, the United States House of Representatives experienced a historic first: its speaker was removed from office. Representatives voted 216-210 to vacate Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his office, with eight Republicans joining all 208 present Democrats. McCarthy had served only nine months as Speaker; North Carolina Representative Patrick McHenry now presides over the House in the temporary role of Speaker Pro Tempore to oversee the election of a new speaker. The only previous instance of removal happened in 1910 when Speaker Joe Cannon essentially dared his opponents to force a vote to vacate his speakership to show he could survive the measure. Although McCarthy’s ousting is an unprecedented moment in American politics, it is not at all an unexpected one. 

The tension surrounding McCarthy’s speakership and eventual motion to vacate has been fueled by a few far-right House Republicans, with the most notable of them being Florida Representative Matt Gaetz. Gaetz has been a very vocal thorn in McCarthy’s side for his entire term and ultimately was the one who began the process of ousting McCarthy by filing a motion to vacate the speakership on October 2. In the negotiation process with the far-right Republicans opposing McCarthy’s speakership, the House rules were changed to allow just one member to file a motion to vacate the speaker’s office.  

 It was a very thin line to walk, and UMass Lowell Associate Professor of Political Science Jeffrey Gerson was amazed that McCarthy even lasted this long. Reflecting on McCarthy’s speakership and the one-member motion to vacate, Professor Gerson said, “I think it was a mistake, but would he have been able to become speaker if he didn’t make that bargain? Probably not. He was in between a rock and a hard place. Frankly, it’s amazing he lasted this long because of the debt limit crisis, and they could have called him a vote on that.” 

What actually caused Gaetz to file the vacate motion was McCarthy working with House Democrats to pass legislation to avoid a government shutdown. McCarthy held out on working with Democrats because of the threat to his speakership that Gaetz explicitly made clear, but he eventually decided to work with Democrats, and in a similar situation to Joe Cannon, dared Gaetz to vacate the speakership. However, McCarthy’s political gambit wasn’t as successful as his distant predecessor’s. Gaetz wasted no time filing the motion to vacate, which forced the House to take up the resolution. 

In the lead-up to the motion vote, House Democrats remained the ultimate wildcard. Several Democrats, many of them in the moderate wing of the party, openly and privately considered helping McCarthy by voting present or against the motion. The reasoning for this being that it could be easier to cooperate with a Speaker that they know well versus one who may be more actively hostile to the idea of bipartisanship. Despite these considerations, the caucus-wide meeting held on the morning of the vacate vote ended with Democrats unanimously agreeing to vote to vacate. House Democrats felt that McCarthy went back on his word too many times and did not like a news interview in which he blamed them for the government almost shutting down. 

The long-term political ramifications of this vote are unclear. If other Representatives are as frustrated with their speaker as Gaetz was with McCarthy, then he may not be alone in his ousting. Professor Gerson worries that this will lead to further chaos, saying, “The people making [federal legislation] can’t agree on something as simple as a leader of their own institution. It’s not good for the institutional strength of the people’s body.” It is also entirely possible that the rule that led to this event, the one-member motion to vacate, is changed so this does not happen again. 

The short-term implications are much clearer: McCarthy announced that he would not run for speaker again, which has created a power vacuum among House Republicans. Those interested in filling the vacant Speaker role will have to work with as slim a majority as McCarthy had and unite the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy with those in their party who are extremely angry at them for doing so.