House moves forward with motion to oust McCarthy, setting up historic vote
Cami Mondeaux Rachel Schilke Reese Gorman
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The House voted to move forward with the motion to vacate House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), setting the stage for a historic vote to oust the leader of the lower chamber and leaving his fate up to House Democrats to save him or allow him to be removed.
Lawmakers voted 208-218 to table the motion, falling short of the majority vote needed to halt the procedure after 11 Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the motion. The House will reconvene later Tuesday to vote on his official ouster, marking the first time such a motion has been considered in over 100 years.
DEMOCRATS HAVE A CHOICE TO MAKE ON MCCARTHY’S SPEAKERSHIP TOO
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced the motion to vacate on Monday, after months of threats that began in January when McCarthy was elected speaker after 15 rounds of voting. Gaetz has repeatedly threatened to strip McCarthy of his leadership position, claiming there’d be enough Republicans to join him in the effort.
Because Republicans have a slim majority in the House, McCarthy can only afford to lose five GOP votes if all Democrats vote against him. Several GOP lawmakers have publicly said they plan to vote against him, including Reps. Reps. Gaetz, Tim Burchett (R-TN), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Bob Good (R-VA), Matt Rosendale (R-MT) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ). Each of them voted against tabling the motion, as well as Victoria Spartz (R-IN), Nancy Mace (R-SC), Cory Mills (R-FL), and Warren Davidson (R-OH).
Spartz has said she would not table the motion but will not vote to oust McCarthy.
Other members, such as Victoria Spartz (R-IN) and Wes Hunt (R-TX), have indicated they are open to the idea. That leaves McCarthy’s fate up to Democrats, whom he has said he would not make a deal with in order to save his speakership.
House Democrats could be the deciding factor if McCarthy keeps his speakership — but party members said ahead of voting to table the motion to vacate that they aren’t interested in helping Republicans sort out their intraparty tensions.
“We’re not here to keep Kevin McCarthy in power. This is their problem,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) said Tuesday prior to the vote.
Gaetz made the motion to vacate after accusing McCarthy of making a “back deal” with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution over the weekend to fund the government temporarily, which he says is in direct violation of the speakership agreement brokered in January.
“I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid. I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy,” Gaetz said Sunday.
The motion to vacate has only been used twice in the past century. McCarthy made concessions to rank-and-file conservatives during the speakership vote, allowing any single lawmaker — Democrat or Republican — to bring a “motion to vacate the chair.” Before the change, a member would need to get a majority of their party in support of the motion in order to move it forward.
Now that the motion to table the motion to vacate has failed, the House will now move to an hour of debate on the motion to vacate. Once the time is up, the House will vote on the motion to vacate. The vote will be a voice roll call vote; each member’s name will be read in alphabetical order, and they will stand up and vote on the motion by voice, much like the Speaker’s race in January.
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If the motion to vacate is successful, then a temporary replacement speaker will be appointed from a list of names that has not been shared with the public. There could be a motion to adjourn right after the vote or members could be called into another round of leadership immediately after that decision is made. Both Democrats and Republicans will given time to decide who their next nominee will be.
It is unclear who the GOP defectors plan to nominate for the speakership, although it’s possible McCarthy could throw his hat back in the ring to be reelected.