California Republican Kevin McCarthy has become the first speaker of the House forced out of the job in US history, after a rebellion by far-right Republicans that was aided by Democrats and fueled by frustration over his approach to government spending and negotiating with Joe Biden.
The final vote tally was 216 in favor and 210 against.
A congressman since 2007, McCarthy was elected to the speaker’s post in January, but only through a grueling 15 rounds of balloting after the same right wing Republicans who would later plot his ouster demanded concessions in exchange for their assent. In the months that followed, those lawmakers grew frustrated with the speaker’s approach to governing after he struck deals with Biden and the Democrats to raise the debt ceiling and, this past weekend, keep the federal government open while lawmakers worked out long-term spending plans.
That agreement prompted Florida Republican Matt Gaetz to on Monday file a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair. While most House Republicans supported McCarthy, Democrats’ hostility to the speaker, who is an ally of Donald Trump, and a handful of GOP defections sealed his fate.
The House must now begin the process of finding a new speaker. Republicans maintain a four-set majority in Congress’s lower chamber.
