House speaker ousted in dramatic vote

WASHINGTON (AP):

Speaker Kevin McCarthy was voted out of the job Tuesday in an extraordinary showdown, a first in US history. The 216-210 vote, forced by a contingent of hard-right conservatives, throws the House and its Republican leadership into chaos.

McCarthy’s chief rival, Matt Gaetz of Florida, brought forward the “motion to vacate” drawing together more than a handful of conservative Republican critics of the speaker and many Democrats who say he is unworthy of leadership.

Next steps are uncertain, but there is no obvious successor to lead the House Republican majority.

McCarthy, of California, insisted he would not cut a deal with Democrats to remain in power – not that he could rely on their help even if he had asked.

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a letter to colleagues that he wants to work with Republicans, but he was unwilling to provide the votes needed to save McCarthy.

“It is now the responsibility of the GOP members to end the House Republican Civil War,” Jeffries said, announcing the Democratic leadership would vote for the motion to oust the speaker.

As the House fell silent, Gaetz, a top ally of Donald Trump, rose to offer his motion. Gaetz is a leader of the hard-right Republicans who fought in January against McCarthy in his prolonged battle to gain the gavel.

“It’s a sad day,” Republican Tom Cole of Oklahoma said as debate got under way, urging his colleagues not to plunge the House Republican majority “into chaos”.

But Gaetz shot back during the debate, “Chaos is Speaker McCarthy”.

McCarthy’s fate was deeply uncertain as the fiery debate unfolded, with much of the complaints against the speaker revolving around his truthfulness and his ability to keep the promises he has made since January to win the gavel.

But a long line of McCarthy supporters, including Jim Jordan, a founding leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus, stood up for him: “I think he has kept his word.” And some did so passionately. Garret Graves, waving his cell phone saying it was “disgusting” that hard-right colleagues were fundraising off the move in text messages seeking donations.

It took only a handful of Republicans from his slim majority to remove McCarthy as speaker.

At the Capitol, both Republicans and Democrats met privately ahead of what was the historic afternoon vote.

Behind closed doors, McCarthy told fellow Republicans: Let’s get on with it.

“If I counted how many times someone wanted to knock me out, I would have been gone a long time ago,” McCarthy said at the Capitol after the morning meeting.

McCarthy insisted he had not reached across the aisle to the Democratic leader Jeffries for help with votes to stay in the job, nor had they demanded anything in return.

During the hour-long meeting in the Capitol basement, McCarthy invoked the last Republican speaker, Joseph Cannon, who more than 100 years ago confronted his critics head-on by calling their bluff and setting the vote himself on his ouster. Cannon survived that take-down attempt which, until now, was the first time the House had actually voted to consider removing its speaker. A more recent threat, in 2015, didn’t make it to a vote.

McCarthy received three standing ovations during the private meeting – one when he came to the microphone to speak, again during his remarks and lastly when he was done, according a Republican at the meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it.

Across the way in the Capitol, Democrats lined up for a long discussion and unified around one common point: McCarthy cannot be trusted, several lawmakers in the room said.

“I think it’s safe to say there’s not a lot of good will in that room for Kevin McCarthy,” said Richard Neal, a Democrat from Massachusetts.

“At the end of the day, the country needs a speaker that can be relied upon,” said Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California. “We don’t trust him. Their members don’t trust him. And you need a certain degree of trust to be the speaker.”