House Takes First Step Toward Removing Kevin McCarthy as Speaker

The House of Representatives voted 218-208 today against postponing a vote to remove Kevin McCarthy from the speakership, setting the stage for the California Republican's ousting from the top position potentially by the end of this week.

The decision, which means McCarthy must bring a "motion to vacate" vote to the floor, was triggered by Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida, who called the motion after McCarthy brought forth a bipartisan deal on Saturday to avert a government shutdown that received the support of most Republicans and all but one Democrat.

With 11 Republicans joining every Democrat in the House, McCarthy's opponents exceeded the simple majority threshold needed to advance the motion to vacate. If members hold their ground, McCarthy will lose his gavel.

As the moments proceeding the historic decision passed, McCarthy spoke to reporters, framing his potential ousting as a blow to Congressional norms.

"I truly believe, though, the institution of the House, at the end of the day, if you throw a speaker out that has 99 percent of their conference, that kept government [open] and paid the troops, I think we're in a really bad place for how we're going to run Congress," he said.

While McCarthy may hold the vast majority of his conference's support, it only takes one member to call a motion to vacate, per the revised House rules that McCarthy agreed to at the beginning of the 117th Congress that convened on January 3.

Under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the motion to vacate was changed to ensure the procedure could only move forward with majority consent from either party. McCarthy agreed to a rule change, reverting the motion to its original form, that allows any one member to initiate the procedure.

McCarthy agreed to the change in January as he faced 14 failed votes to become speaker. The California Republican ultimately secured the position on the 15th vote after making concessions and promises to hard-right conservatives.

That victory came only after six Republicans agreed to vote "present," which lowered the threshold McCarthy needed to obtain the gavel. Of those six Republicans — Representatives Gaetz, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Eli Crane of Arizona, Bob Good of Virginia, and Matt Rosendale of Montana — all but Boebert voted against tabling the motion on Tuesday.

Representatives Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Cory Mills of Florida, and Victoria Spartz of Indiana joined them.

"I have enough Republicans where at this point next week, one of two things will happen," Gaetz told reporters Monday night. "Kevin McCarthy won't be the speaker of the House, or he'll be the speaker of the House working at the pleasure of the Democrats. And I'm at peace with either result, because the American people deserve to know who governs them."

Preceding today's vote, some speculated that moderate Democrats in purple districts would extend McCarthy a lifeline. Hope for such an event was dashed when centrist Democrats came out against keeping McCarthy as speaker, providing Democrats with a united front.

In a statement preceding the vote, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said the House has faced "unprecedented dysfunction" since Republicans took control. He accused its leadership of empowering its far-right members and said the decision to move forward in ousting McCarthy was made out of concern for the American people.

"Earlier today, we convened as a Caucus to discuss the current state of affairs in the House of Representatives," Jeffries said. "Emerging from the meeting, we are unified in out commitment to put people over politics, continue to build a healthy economy and make life more affordable for everyday Americans."