Kevin McCarthy will not make another bid for Speaker of the House after he was ousted from the job in a historic vote on Tuesday sparked by a tumultuous civil war in the Republican Party.
He made the announcement to House Republicans on Tuesday evening, a few hours after eight GOP lawmakers joined Democrats to boot him from his leadership spot.
‘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,’ he said in a statement.
His bombshell decision will open the floodgates for Republican candidates and could lead to weeks of turmoil among the party as Congress faces a November 17th deadline to prevent another government shutdown.
House Republicans met behind closed doors on Tuesday night to discuss the fallout from the historic vote that resulted in McCarthy, R-Calif., becoming the first Speaker in the 234-year history of the United States Congress to have his gavel taken away by fellow lawmakers.
McCarthy is swarmed by reporters after a vote to oust him from the speaker’s chair
Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz leaves the House floor after his motion to vacate ousted the speaker
A motion to vacate the speaker’s chair was adopted 216 to 210 on Monday afternoon. McCarthy ally Rep. Patrick McHenry, chair of the Financial Services Committee, was named as the interim Speaker, but now the GOP will launch a marathon bid to pick a successor.
There is no clear frontrunner for the job.
McHenry told GOP lawmakers they will hold a candidate forum next Tuesday and an election for speaker next Wednesday. McCarthy, who won the speakership in January after 15 rounds of votes, will not be on the ballot again.
And no decisions will be made this week.
House members are done for the week and headed home. ‘Members have been advised that no further votes are expected in the House this week,’ came the notice from the Whip’s office.
Several names have been tossed out as potential speakers, including members of McCarthy’s own leadership team like Steve Scalise and Tom Emmer.
Conservative Rep. Jim Jordan previously said he wasn’t interested in the top job. But after his Republican colleagues banded his name about on Tuesday evening he appeared to reconsider.
‘That will be a decision for the conference,’ Jordan said after the meeting when asked about running for speaker.
Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the rebellion against McCarthy, also suggested Reps. Mike Johnson, Kevin Hern and Jodey Arrington for the top job. He even suggested he ‘might call up’ former New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin.
The speaker doesn’t have to be a member of the House. That led to Rep. Troy Nehls saying he’ll nominating Donald Trump for speaker. However, Trump wouldn’t be able to be speaker and president so it seems unlikely he would want to lead the House given he’s running for a second White House term.
No candidate has formally announced – yet.
Other Republicans have ruled themselves out as a candidate. Rep. Elise Stefanik, the highest-ranking GOP woman, said she won’t run.
House Democrats will meet Wednesday morning to nominate their own candidate for speaker. They are expected to name Harkeem Jeffries, their leader who ran (and lost) for speaker in January.
The humiliating end for McCarthy, 58, sent shockwaves across Capitol Hill and secured his title as the shortest-serving Speaker since 1875, following a rollercoaster tenure of nine months.
The shockwaves from the vote left Democrats quietly shaking their heads as they left the House chamber. Lawmakers packed the House floor for the vote and, instead of standing in groups to chat like is typical during a vote, each sat in their seat in silence, waiting for their name to be called so they could record their vote.
McCarthy sat in silence after the vote was done. When the gavel came down on his speakership, he stood to shake hands. His supporters surrounded him. One group of Republican lawmakers was seen in the corner of the floor praying. Republican Rep. Ann Wagner appeared to be crying.
McCarthy was seen shaking hands and hugging his supporters on the House floor after the stinging loss.
The vote had moments of surprises including when Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina stunned her colleagues by voting to boot McCarthy from leadership.
The free-wheeling congresswoman said her vote was about ‘trust.’
‘It’s not ideological. It’s about having a leader in our nation who will tell the truth, who you can trust,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘I am looking for a speaker who will tell the truth.’
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But in January she tweeted that Gaetz is a ‘fraud’ for his McCarthy opposition.
Kevin McCarthy has been sensationally ousted as Speaker of the House in a historic vote sparked by a tumultuous civil war in the Republican party
Rep. Patrick McHenry was named speaker pro temp and said Republicans would meet next week to pick their next speaker
The GOP leader’s tenure came crashing down, nine months after he was elected after an unprecedented 15 rounds of votes.
Republicans were left reeling as they tried to stave off a potential government shutdown next month.
McCarthy’s supporters called him a ‘happy warrior’ with ‘true American grit’.
But, speaking on the House floor, Gaetz said: ‘Chaos is speaker McCarthy. Chaos is somebody who we cannot trust with their word.
‘One thing that the White House, House Democrats, and many of us on the conservative side of the Republican caucus would argue is that the thing we have in common – Kevin McCarthy said something to all of us at one point or another that he didn’t really mean and never intended to live up to.
‘I don’t think voting against Kevin McCarthy is chaos. I think $33 trillion in debt is chaos. I think that facing a $2.2 trillion annual deficit is chaos.’
He added: ‘Let’s get on with it, lets vacate the chair, let’s get a better Speaker.’
McCarthy’s supporters booed and jeered at Gaetz as he tore into the Speaker ahead of the vote that officially removed him.
Republicans control the chamber by a narrow 221-212 majority, meaning it took only a handful of defections to remove McCarthy.
It came after a rebellion led by his nemesis, Florida congressman Matt Gaetz , and a small group of hardline Republicans who viewed McCarthy as a weak conservative
Steve Scalise was one of the Republicans who came out in support of McCarthy
McCarthy’s supporters called him a ‘happy warrior’ with ‘true American grit’
Gaetz and his allies criticized McCarthy for relying on Democratic votes to pass temporary funding that headed off a partial government shutdown last week.
They also said he had not pushed hard enough to cut spending, and was too willing to send money to Ukraine.
The anti-McCarthy Republicans have not coalesced around one alternative they’d like to put up for speaker. Gaetz has noted that the speaker does not even have to be a member of the House.
The Florida Republican said he ‘absolutely does not’ want the top job – and floated a number of names – including members of McCarthy’s own leadership team like Steve Scalise and Tom Emmer. He even suggested he ‘might call up’ for New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told reporters there are ‘plenty of people’ who good do the job better than McCarthy. Gaetz said Monday night he’d like to see Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who is battling blood cancer, in the role, but seemed open to other options.
Burchett also said he wanted a speaker who didn’t want the job so badly.
He said last week he had a conversation with McCarthy, ‘the last thing he said was ‘I really wanna be speaker.’ And I think that sums up the whole thing … it’s not about one person.’
But McCarthy’s allies could continue to put him up for speaker again.
‘I think Kevin McCarthy should take a hint after 15 ballots to become speaker after eight months of a failed speakership and after removal in this historic manner,’ Gaetz said on that prospect.
Former President Trump seemed to disapprove of the drama playing out in Congress’ lower chamber.
‘Why is it that Republicans are always fighting among themselves, why aren’t they fighting the Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our Country?’
