By Jackson Richman
The House will have a new Speaker after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was stripped of the gavel on Oct. 3 after almost nine months in the position.
The House voted 210-216 to oust Mr. McCarthy as eight Republicans joined all Democrats in doing so.
This was the first time a Speaker was removed through a motion to vacate. The previous time there was such a vote was in 1910 and it was unsuccessful.
Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) resigned from Congress in 2015 before there could be a vote on a motion to vacate as Freedom Caucus members expressed dissatisfaction with him in the job.
Mr. McCarthy has said he would stay in Congress even if he were ousted as Speaker.
Until a permanent Speaker is voted in by the whole House, an interim one will be in charge based on a list compiled by Mr. McCarthy.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is the Speaker pro tempore.
Possible names to permanently succeed Mr. McCarthy include House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), and House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.).
All of them expressed support for Mr. McCarthy.
While Mr. Scalise would be the logical successor, he has been battling cancer which would likely cause him to miss a significant amount of time from Congress.
However, Mr. McCarthy has indicated that he would run for the gavel again, citing his unwillingness to throw in the towel. In January he won it after 15 balloting rounds.
The House GOP conference is meeting on the evening of Oct. 3. Whether anyone can secure the votes to get the gavel is unclear.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has called for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to succeed Mr. McCarthy.
The Speaker is second in line to the presidency.
Regardless of who will take over from McCarthy, the U.S. government is set to shut down in just over 40 days thanks to a continuing resolution, which Mr. McCarthy pushed through and, as a result of that, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) filed the motion to vacate on Oct. 2.
Democrats joined the handful of Republicans to oust Mr. McCarthy as Speaker as Mr. Jeffries said that House Democrat leadership would vote in favor of the motion to vacate.
“We confront a serious, solemn, and sober moment. Our responsibility as members of Congress relates to the Constitution, the principle of good governance, and the people we are privileged to serve. Nothing more, and nothing less,” said Mr. Jeffries in a statement.
“In that regard, House Democrats remain willing to find common ground on an enlightened path forward,” he continued.
During Mr. McCarthy’s tenure as Speaker, the House passed legislation related to the debt ceiling, border security, energy, parental rights in education, and other issues.
Only the debt ceiling bill, which he negotiated with President Joe Biden, became law.
