House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted on Tuesday in a historic 216-210 vote with eight Republicans supporting all Democrats to vacate the seat, leaving the House in uncharted territory.
Unprecedented move: This planned ousting of McCarthy was led by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who criticized McCarthy over his decision to pass a short-term spending bill with Democratic support.
* McCarthy was elected Speaker in January after 15 rounds of voting, by agreeing to change rules on who can propose a resolution to remove the speaker.
* Despite the rebellion led by Gaetz, the majority of members of the Republican conference in the House stayed supportive of McCarthy.
Surprise unpreparedness: The Republican Party did not have a clear successor in sight, suggesting a lack of planning for this event.
* McCarthy said he won’t run for Speaker again, Majority Whip Tom Emmer suggested he would not run and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise didn’t have any immediate announcement.
* Some Republicans who voted out McCarthy apparently had no replacement candidate in mind.
Democrats not saving McCarthy: Democrats, instead of saving McCarthy by voting “present”, chose to vote him out.
* McCarthy had made no concessions to Democrats before the vote.
* Democrats plan to nominate Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is unlikely to win in a Republican-majority House.
Impending legislative standstill: The ousting of McCarthy will lead to a halt in legislative business.
* North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry has been named as the interim Speaker.
* A permanent replacement will need to successfully navigate relations with Democrats and potential opposition from more conservative ranks of the party.
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