And he’s out of there.
Kevin McCarthy has been ousted as speaker of the House of Representatives, becoming the first leader in the history of the lower chamber of Congress to be removed from the position.
In a dramatic 216-210 vote on Tuesday afternoon, the House endorsed a “motion to vacate” to in effect fire McCarthy from the speakership. Eight Republicans voted against their party leader and sided with 208 Democrats, sealing his removal from the post.
The unprecedented vote sets the stage for an election to select a new speaker — though McCarthy has not ruled out putting forward his name to be reselected for the top job.
The historic vote underscores the sharp divides in the Republican party and threatens to usher in a new era of dysfunction in Washington. The House cannot carry out legislative business until a new speaker is elected.
Republicans haven’t had a first-rate speaker since Newt Gingrich stepped down. McCarthy was an improvement on Paul Ryan and Dennis Hastert, but probably not as good as John Boehner. Majority Leader Steve Scalise would theoretically be next in line, followed by Majority Whip Tom Emmer, Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, and Policy Committee Chair Gary Palmer, but line of succession doesn’t always hold water in a speaker fight.
Scalise is, of course, the guy who literally took a bullet for being a Republican. Stefanik has been labeled an up-and-comer for many years now, but I mostly know her from the numerous begagrams that show up in my email. Emmer and Palmer have relatively low profiles compared to the other two. Heritage Action (grains of salt apply) ranks them Palmer 98%, Stefanik 84%, Scalise and Emmer 82%.
Matt Gaetz will not be the next speaker, and whoever gets the job will probably be just as unpopular among conservative activists as McCarthy was.