In a historic rebellion by hardline Republicans, US House Speaker Kevin Mccarthy has been ousted as the Speaker of the house on Tuesday. With his removal, McCarthy becomes the first US speaker to be removed from office in the House’s 234-year history. He was voted against by eight Republicans siding with Democrats in a tally of 216-210.
The republican House Speaker will also not run for speaker again after the House ousted him from the top leadership post, as per media reports.
Taking to social media platform ‘X’, McCarthy wrote “I will not seek to run again for Speaker of the House. I may have lost a vote today, but I fought for what I believe in—and I believe in America. It has been an honor to serve.”
I will not seek to run again for Speaker of the House. I may have lost a vote today, but I fought for what I believe in—and I believe in America. It has been an honor to serve. https://t.co/4EMpOuwtzy
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) October 3, 2023
The conservative Republicans have been furious at McCarthy for his cooperation with the Democrats. Eight Republicans led by Congressman Matt Gaetz voted against McCarthy. The House is yet to elect a new Speaker, in the meantime Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is set to be the interim speaker and will preside over the vote and selection of the chamber’s next speaker.
“The reason Kevin McCarthy went down today is because nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy. Kevin McCarthy has made multiple contradictory promises. And when they all came due, he lost votes from people who maybe don’t even ideologically agree with me on everything,” Gaetz told reporters soon after the vote.
McCarthy was supported by a very small group of right-wing Republicans. The leader who has been a key believer of never giving up is now finding himself in a tight spot as he does not have any other means to survive this battle, according to media reports.
This development comes after McCarthy passed the bipartisan bill in the House, preventing a government shutdown in the US. The conservative republicans were against the stopgap bill which gives the US government a burfer time till November 17 to finish their funding legislation.
It includes USD 16 billion in disaster relief — matching the figure the White House included in a supplemental request. However, it does not include Ukraine aid or border policy changes, as media reports.
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