Removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House

Representative Matt Gaetz led resistance to McCarthy and successfully filed a motion to recall him.

The 2022 midterm elections resulted in a narrow, 2-seat Senate majority for the Democratic Party and a narrow, 4-seat House of Representatives majority for the Republican Party. In the 118th Congress, the Freedom Caucus, a far-right congressional caucus, secured 45 House of Representatives seats. McCarthy, leader of the House Republican Conference, was elected speaker of the House after several days of voting as opposition—primarily led by members of the Freedom Caucus—mounted against him. McCarthy conceded to his opponents to negotiate their support for his speakership. In May 2023, McCarthy negotiated with President Joe Biden on a deal to resolve a debt-ceiling crisis and an imminent debt default. In response, Republicans, led by Gaetz, balked and blocked a bill protecting gas stoves against federal regulations.[10] The mutiny left McCarthy with a political quagmire to either acquiesce to the insurgents, passing legislation that would face resistance in the Senate, or to negotiate with Democrats, contending with a potential ousting.[11]

By September, the federal government appeared poised to shut down after representatives could not vote on a series of appropriations bills.[12] The Freedom Caucus threatened to depose McCarthy if he turned to Democrats to gather more votes.[13] On September 29, Politico reported that Gaetz had reached out to Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal, among other Democrats, about removing McCarthy.[14] The following day, hours before a shutdown was expected to occur, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan continuing resolution to fund the government through November 17. The resolution was passed in the Senate and signed by President Biden, averting a shutdown.[15] McCarthy had relied on Democratic votes to pass the continuing resolution due to opposition from some House Republicans. The resolution passed the House 335–91, with all but one of the votes cast against it coming from Republicans.[16] Gaetz, who has led intra-party opposition to McCarthy,[17] announced in an interview with CNN that he would move to remove McCarthy for working with Democrats.[18]

Many Democrats would cite an inability for them to trust McCarthy as motivating House Democrats to vote as a unified bloc in support of the motion of vacate. There was also little on McCarthy's agenda that appealed to Democrats on a legislative level. Despite relying on Democratic votes to pass the continuing resolution, after its passage, McCarthy had attacked Democrats on Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan by accusing them of having attempted to obstruct its passage. These comments, amongst others, were seen as one of several instances in which he had established ill will and distrust among House Democrats during his speakership. [21][22] McCarthy publicly ruled out a deal involving support from Democrats in exchange for concessions.[23]

On October 3, prior to the vote, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries asked Democrats to vote to remove McCarthy.[24] The conclusion was that the pending motion to vacate highlighted the dysfunction in the Republican Party, which Democrats argued made Republicans unsuitable to govern. Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said, "They [Republicans] need to work this out.... This is not for us to get involved."[21]

The motion to vacate was considered by the House on October 3.[23] Tom Cole, chairman of the Republican-led House Rules Committee, unsuccessfully moved to remove the motion from consideration, through a motion to table. Following one hour of debate evenly divided between Gaetz and Cole, the motion passed by a vote of 216–210; this was the first time in congressional history the House voted to remove its incumbent speaker.[25]

Representative Tom Cole's motion to table the motion to vacate was unsuccessful.

Vote to table

Party		Yes	No	Not voting
	Republican	208	11	2
	Democratic	—	207	5
Percentage		48.8%	51.1%	—
Total votes		208	N 218	7

The vote to table the resolution was primarily split along party lines; all Democrats present voted against tabling the motion and a majority of Republicans voted to table the motion. Republicans Biggs, Ken Buck, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Warren Davidson, Gaetz, Bob Good, Nancy Mace, Cory Mills, Matt Rosendale, and Victoria Spartz voted no.[26]

Vote to vacate

Party		Yes	No	Not voting
	Republican	8	210	3
	Democratic	208	—	4
Percentage		50.7%	49.3%	—
Total votes		Y 216	210	7

The vote to vacate was mostly split along party lines; all Democrats present voted yes and a majority of Republicans voted no. Republican representatives Biggs, Buck, Burchett, Crane, Gaetz, Good, Mace, and Rosendale voted yes.[26] Biggs, Crane, Gaetz, Good and Rosendale were five of the six "present" votes in the deciding speakership election.

Burchett said his yes vote was "sealed" after McCarthy allegedly said a "condescending" remark about his religious beliefs during a phone call. McCarthy said that he did not intend to upset Burchett.[27]

Mace, who is a member of moderate caucuses such as the Republican Governance Group and Problem Solvers Caucus, defended her vote by citing unfulfilled promises McCarthy made regarding the future strategy of the Republican Conference towards gun violence and abortion.[28] Buck cited similar broken promises regarding the budget. [29]

Jeffries and congressional Democrats said their yes votes were ultimately sealed by a video of "an appearance Mr. McCarthy made on television on Sunday—the morning after Democrats helped him push through legislation to avert a government shutdown — in which he blamed them for trying to prompt a shutdown."[21]

Eight Republican representatives (pictured) voted to vacate the office of Speaker of the House, along with all Democrats who were present.

All House members of the 118th Congress that voted against party lines or were absent for one or both votes, are noted here.

Less than a week after McCarthy's ouster, Israel — one of the United States' closest allies — was attacked by the militant group Hamas. McCarthy's ouster and the subsequent leadership debacle have been cited as the main reasons behind a lack of aid to support Israel.[45] Some McCarthy supporters attempted to use the crisis to reinstall McCarthy as speaker, but these efforts failed.[46]

McCarthy declared, "I fought for what I believe in. I believe I can continue to fight, but maybe in a different manner."[47]

Former vice president Mike Pence said, "Chaos is never America's strength, and it's never a friend of American families that are struggling." Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said that Gaetz was "actively destructive to the conservative movement."[48] Gingrich also said that House Republicans should expel Gaetz.[49]

Some Republicans blamed Democrats for not supporting McCarthy. Republican members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus threatened to quit the caucus after Democrats voted.[50] The National Republican Congressional Committee called Democrats the "Chaos Caucus,"[51] a term originally coined to describe far-right Republicans.[52]

In a press conference following his removal, McCarthy blamed Democrats. He argued that Democrats should have voted against the motion to vacate to protect the institution.[53] McCarthy also said that Pelosi had promised him that Democrats would support McCarthy during a motion to vacate.[33]

Adolfo Franco, a lawyer and Republican Party strategist, speaking from Florida, told Al Jazeera that it was a "five-seat majority in a divided government" that removed McCarthy.[54] "The reality is we have a democratic President, and a democratic Senate. We don’t have absolute majorities. Mr. Gaetz is living in a fantasy world. So I feel terrible for a man who has accomplished so much for our country to be ousted," Franco said.[54]

Statement from 45 Republican members of the House condemning McCarthy's removal

Forty-five Republican representatives wrote an open letter objecting to the McCarthy ejection from his position as speaker.[55][56] The letter said the representatives were "ashamed and embarrassed by what happened", and praising McCarthy's performance as "one of the most accomplished Republican leaders in modern history".[57]

On October 4, Jeffries released a statement wishing McCarthy well and saying that he and McCarthy "had a respectful, communicative, and forward-looking relationship."[58]

The Washington Post political contributor Dan Balz speculated that the ousting of McCarthy could hurt Republicans during the 2024 elections.[59]

Political observers have noted a historical parallel between the turmoil engulfing the House Republican Conference surrounding McCarthy's removal and the events following the resignation of Newt Gingrich precipitated by an internal caucus rebellion in the wake of the 1998 elections. The lead-up to the 106th United States Congress was marked by significant events, including the 1998 bombing of Iraq and the impeachment of Bill Clinton; during this turbulent period, Bob Livingston was briefly the presumptive speaker before he, too, resigned, with then-little-known Dennis Hastert ultimately becoming speaker on January 6, 1999.[60]