In a historical first, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted on October 3rd in a 216 to 210 vote to vacate the position of Speaker. All 208 Democratic representatives and eight Republican representatives voted in favor of removing McCarthy. It took fifteen attempts to select McCarthy to fill the position, yet it only took one to remove him from it. His primary rival, Florida representative Mark Gaetz, led the ousting with targeted remarks, and he was also the one who led the representatives blocking McCarthy from the Speaker position the first time he ran.
Why Was He Ousted?
When Gaetz and several Republican representatives withheld their vote for McCarthy during his initial bid for the Speakership, they sought a demand. In exchange for their support, McCarthy must stop the practice of issuing continuing resolutions and packaging several spending bills into an overarching omnibus bill. In the past, when Congress cannot agree on a spending bill for the year, they pass a continuing resolution which basically allocates the same amount of funds as the previous year. Then, an omnibus bill is created which clumps together many different bills (not just related to spending). Because of the segments which must pass, the omnibus bill is pushed through even if they contain very heavy spending bills. Gaetz and his supporters propose moving back to the original way of passing appropriations bills where each bill is passed individually because this will allow them to set a clearer limit on government spending.
However, in October when the most recent spending bill needed to be passed, McCarthy stated that Congress would still need to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government going. While they did pass some individual spending bills, this act was seen by Gaetz and his colleagues as McCarthy going back on his word. “Speaker McCarthy made an agreement with House conservatives in January. And, since then, he has been in brazen, repeated material breach of that agreement.”
In an announcement to McCarthy, Gaetz said “Mr. Speaker, dust off our written January agreement. You have a copy. Reflect on the spirit of that agreement. Begin to comply. No continuing resolutions. Individual spending bills or bust. Votes on balanced budgets and term limits. Subpoenas for Hunter Biden and the members of the Biden family who’ve been grifting off this country, and the impeachment of Joe Biden that he so richly deserves. Do these things or face a motion to vacate the chair.”
Who Will Be The Next Speaker?
As McCarthy has been ousted and announced that he would not run for Speaker again, the open position leaves the House of Representatives without a leader. Previous Speaker nominees included House Majority Leader representative Steven Scalise who withdrew from consideration and representative Jim Jordan who has just been dropped as a possible nominee. Several representatives including Tom Emmer, Kevin Hern, and Austin Scott have dropped their name in the ballot, but with the infighting in the Republican House, it is unclear if there are any frontrunners with the support to take on that role.
What Is The Current Situation?
The House without a Speaker is legislatively impaired and cannot make decisions on current issues including aid to Israel and Gaza, new legislation, approving members of the next Congress session, and forming the rules that govern them. Even with a temporary Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, the House is unable to perform most of its legislative operations. The Speaker of the House is also the third in the line of succession after the President and Vice President. Without this influential position filled, the legislative branch of the country is at a standstill. As this is the first time in history of such an issue occurring, Congress needs to set a precedent to ensure that the country will keep moving forward regardless of partisan values.