Amid Republican Division: This Is How the House Speaker Was Ousted, a First in U.S. History

In a precedent that once again embodied the extent of the divisions that the Republican Party suffers from, the U.S. House of Representatives dismissed its Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, in a vote that took place on October 3, 2023, making this the first event of its kind in U.S. history.

The overthrow was led by Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida. The House voted on the procedures for removing McCarthy with a majority of 216 votes, including 8 Republican representatives, compared to 210 representatives who voted in favor of his survival.

After announcing the vacancy of the position of House Speaker, the House announced the appointment of Patrick McHenry as interim Speaker.

Republicans plan to meet on October 10 to discuss potential successors to McCarthy, with a vote on a new Speaker planned for October 11.

McCarthy had greatly angered Democrats in recent weeks by launching an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

What is surprising is that Democrats could have saved McCarthy, but after studying the matter, they said they would not help Republicans solve their problems, according to Reuters.

McCarthy’s ouster as House Speaker will halt legislative activity, with another government shutdown deadline looming on November 17 if Congress does not extend funding.

 

Historic Overthrow

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted from office this week in a measure led by hard-line Republicans, in response to McCarthy passing, with the help of Democrats, a temporary 45-day federal government funding package to spare the U.S. from a government shutdown that would have crippled federal agencies.

Hard-line Republicans were angry that their demands regarding spending cuts were not included in the agreement that McCarthy reached with the Democrats.

For the first time in its 234-year history, the House voted by a majority in favor of a memorandum put forward by the extremist wing of the Republican Party stipulating that the position of House Speaker be considered vacant.

In turn, U.S. President Joe Biden recently called for the rapid election of a new House Speaker.

Gaetz accused McCarthy of lying to members of his party during negotiations and of concluding a secret deal with Democrats on funding for Ukraine, which he and dozens of other conservative Republicans oppose.

McCarthy, who will continue his duties as Deputy House Speaker, also confirmed that he will not run again for the position of Speaker.

The leadership of the Republican Party had warned House GOP hardliners against plunging the party into chaos, despite some of them repeatedly complaining about McCarthy’s failure to respect the agreements concluded with the conservatives.

In addition to Matt Gaetz of Florida, who led the rebellion against McCarthy, there are 7 Republican representatives who voted to impeach their leader in the House: Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Matt Rosendale of Montana.

In turn, activist Omar Taha explained in a statement to Al-Estiklal that “McCarthy’s ouster leaves Congress in a state of uncertainty, as it strives to modernize farm and nutrition support programs, pass government funding bills, and consider providing more aid to Ukraine.”

He also pointed out that the U.S. has been witnessing unparalleled tension since the 2020 presidential elections and their well-known repercussions, noting that the occurrence of such an unprecedented incident in Congress history, specifically a year before the 2024 elections, must leave its effects on the battle of the torn Republican Party.

Mr. Taha noted that “former President Donald Trump could have saved McCarthy, but he did not, because he knows that the division within the Republican Party would serve his interest more.”

 

Potential Candidates

After McCarthy’s ouster, the American media began to present names of potential candidates for the position of Speaker of the U.S. House.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a top Trump ally and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told reporters Wednesday morning that he is running for House Speaker, the first member to publicly announce his candidacy.

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz said that there are several candidates who could be chosen for the position of House Speaker, including Steve Scalise of Louisiana, according to what NBC News reported.

Rep. Steve Scalise is the No. 2 House Republican and has long been favored to take over the head of the Republican Party in the chamber after McCarthy’s tenure ended.

Also on the list are Republican Representatives Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Jodi Arrington of Texas, and Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, according to the New York Times.

Rep. Tom Emmer is the House Republican whip and had headed the House Republicans’ campaign arm during the 2022 midterm elections.

Rep. Jodi Arrington is a member of the U.S. House and an ally of former President Donald Trump.

Rep. Kevin Hern is the head of the largest group of Republican conservatives in the House, and according to an informed source, he is seriously considering applying for the position.

The Wall Street Journal confirmed that any potential candidate will face the same demands made by House GOP hardliners, the most important of which is not to negotiate with the Democrats.

But with Democrats in control of the White House and Senate, meeting these demands is nearly impossible.

House Democrats plan to nominate Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York and the minority leader to the speakership. His ascent is extremely unlikely since Republicans control the majority.

 

Republican Battle

The first precedent in U.S. history raised questions about the role of former U.S. President Donald Trump in the House’s decision, especially since the Rep. who led this measure (Matt Gaetz) is currently considered one of the most prominent supporters of Trump’s candidacy for the Republican Party’s presidential elections in 2024.

CNN reported from multiple sources that the former president, who is currently busy with his civil trial in New York, did not participate directly in this battle between Republicans, knowing that his position was decisive in McCarthy’s election as House Speaker last January.

In January, while McCarthy was struggling through ten rounds of voting to become Speaker of the House, former President Trump intervened at the last minute to pressure conservative Republican Party members to support McCarthy.

Trump made calls to his staunchest supporters on McCarthy’s behalf, including Matt Gaetz and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. When McCarthy eventually won the House speakership, he thanked the former president for his support.

Sources said that Trump, who has allies on both sides of the battle to dismiss the House Speaker, currently believes that there is little positive political aspect to engaging in the struggle for the presidency of the House.

It is also not clear whether Trump will decide to change his mind and participate in the battle to choose McCarthy’s successor, especially if the process of choosing the House Speaker continues for several days.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump condemned what he described as an internal conflict among Republicans, saying in a statement that Republicans should confront Democrats instead of fighting each other.

“Why is it that Republicans are always fighting among themselves, why aren’t they fighting the Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our Country?” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The Republican Party has previously witnessed conflicts over its presidency of the Council, but none of them reached the extent of its recent political massacre.

The last two Republican Speakers of the House, Paul Ryan and John Boehner, stepped down after disagreements with the right escalated. In both cases, both of them were replaced by another Republican speaker, but in the current case, there is no ready replacement.

It is noteworthy that only once, specifically in the nineteenth century, was a vote taken to remove the House Speaker from his position, but the attempt failed to collect the necessary votes.