U.S.

Politics World Opinion Media Entertainment Sports Lifestyle Video AI More Login Watch TV

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

House votes to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker in a

historic first
Votes by Democrats and GOP rebels led by Matt Gaetz combine to oust McCarthy
By Elizabeth Elkind Fox News

Published October 3, 2023 2:50pm EDT | Updated October 3, 2023 4:46pm EDT

More from Politics

35 mins ago
Potential nail-biter
race in deep-red
state heats up as
Dem nominee
accuses GOP
governor, family of
corruption

47 mins ago
House votes to
remove Kevin
McCarthy as
speaker in a historic
first

1 hour ago
Judge imposes
partial gag order in
Trump Org trial,
blocking parties
from verbal attacks
against court staff

1 hour ago
GOP Utah Rep. John
Curtis passes on run
for Romney's Senate
seat
WATCH LIVE: House set to vote on motion to oust Speaker McCarthy
Five GOP lawmakers have publicly said they'd vote to oust McCarthy

Lawmakers have voted to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from his leadership role,
the first time in the history of the House of Representatives that the chamber voted to
boot a member from the top job.

Eight Republicans voted with every present Democrat to vacate the speaker's chair. The
final vote was 216 to 210 in favor of McCarthy's ouster.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., introduced a measure against McCarthy known as a motion to
vacate on Monday night, accusing him of breaking promises he made to win the speaker's
gavel in January.

Tensions flared during an hour of debate before the actual motion to vacate, after 11
Republicans voted with every Democrat to advance the measure. McCarthy's allies had
taken up all of the microphones on the GOP side of the chamber, forcing Gaetz to make
his case from the side where Democrats traditionally sit.

"Chaos is Speaker McCarthy. Chaos is somebody who we cannot trust with their word,"
Gaetz said as McCarthy looked down at his lap.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is in real danger of losing his job (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

At one point an outraged McCarthy ally Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., accused Gaetz and his
cohorts of sending fundraising efforts on their motion to vacate. He fumed while pointing
to his phone, "Using official actions to make money, it's disgusting."

Chants of "shame" erupted on the House GOP side of the chamber.

Gaetz responded, "When it comes to how those raise money, I take no lecture on asking
patriotic Americans to weigh in and contribute to this fight from those who would grovel
and bend knee for the lobbyists and special interests who own our leadership."

A Republican lawmaker shouted at Gaetz, "You're no martyr."

Democrats signaled early on Tuesday that they would not be inclined to help McCarthy.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said before the vote, "Democrats "are
ready to find bipartisan common ground. Our extreme colleagues have shown no
willingness to do the same. They must find a way to end the House Republican Civil War."

In January, it took 15 rounds of voting until McCarthy was elected.

McCarthy angered hardliners over the weekend when he passed a short-term spending bill
known as a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open for 45 days, in order
to avert a government shutdown and give lawmakers more time to cobble together 12
individual spending bills.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., introduced the motion to vacate McCarthy (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Ninety House Republicans voted against the CR on Saturday, arguing that it was a "clean"
extension of the previous Democratically-held Congress' policies. But the speaker's
previous attempts to put a CR on the table that would cut spending for its short duration
were upended by several of those same conservatives who were opposed to any such
measure on principle.

The frustration at the small number of rebels was palpable among House Republicans on
Tuesday morning.

"This is a distraction from what we should be focusing on, which is the appropriations
process," Main Street Caucus Vice Chair Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., said. "This is all about
Matt Gaetz. It's not about Kevin McCarthy. Matt Gaetz is using the American people as
pawns in his narcissistic game of charades."

Elizabeth Elkind is a reporter for Fox News Digital focused on Congress as well as the intersection of
Artificial Intelligence and politics. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

U.S. World Politics Entertainment Business Lifestyle

Crime U.N. Executive Celebrity News Personal Finance Food + Drink
Military Conflicts Senate Movies Economy Cars + Trucks
Education Terrorism House TV News Markets Travel + Outdoors
Terror Disasters Judiciary Music News Watchlist House + Home
Immigration Global Economy Foreign Policy Style News Lifestyle Fitness + Well-being
Economy Environment Polls Entertainment Video Real Estate Style + Beauty
Personal Freedoms Religion Elections Tech Family
Fox News Investigates Scandals Faith

Science Tech Health TV About Other

Archaeology Security Coronavirus Shows Contact Us Fox Business
Air & Space Innovation Healthy Living Personalities Careers Fox Weather
Planet Earth Drones Medical Research Watch Live Fox Around the World Fox Nation
Wild Nature Computers Mental Health Full Episodes Advertise With Us Women's World Cup 2023
Natural Science Video Games Cancer Show Clips Media Relations Fox News Shop
Dinosaurs Military Tech Heart Health News Clips Corporate Information Fox News Go
Children's Health Compliance Fox News Radio
Outkick
Newsletters
Podcasts
Apps & Products

New Terms of Use New Privacy Policy Your Privacy Choices Closed Captioning Policy Help Contact Us Accessibility Statement

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2023 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or
delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset . Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions . Legal Statement . Mutual Fund and ETF
data provided by Refinitiv Lipper .