House of Representatives Votes to Oust McCarthy as Speaker, Prompting Mixed Reactions from Representatives

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted to oust Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his position as Speaker of the House. The vote was initiated by Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who was joined by seven other Republicans and 208 House Democrats.

McCarthy was partially responsible for his own ouster, as he had agreed to change a rule prior to being named House Speaker, which allowed for a motion to “vacate the office” of the speaker to be called by just one person. This motion triggered a vote of the full House on the speaker’s fate.

When asked about the ouster, Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) stated that he believes Gaetz’s real reason for wanting to be in Congress was less about public service and more about access to underage aides on Capitol Hill.

In contrast, Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) believes that Gaetz should be praised for putting his career on the line to do the right thing. Jordan stated that “letting him go down the drain does not create incentives” for other Republicans to do the same.

Finally, Representative Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) stated that if he had been running the House Democratic Caucus, he would have provided McCarthy with votes to keep the Speakership. This statement is contrary to conventional wisdom, but Malinowski believes that providing McCarthy with votes would have been the right thing to do.