McCarthy Was Removed as House Speaker - Now What?

Updated Oct. 4, 2023, 4:45 p.m. EST

• Reps. Steve Scalise (R-La.) — second-ranking House Republican —and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) — chairman of the Judiciary Committee — both announced their campaigns for speaker Wednesday afternoon.

What's the story?

• On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted to remove Kevin McCarthy from his position as speaker. Now, the House is without a leader. 
• While Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) was named interim speaker, the House is essentially unable to function until a new permanent speaker is chosen. McHenry's primary duty will be to oversee the election process for the new speaker.
• It took 15 rounds of voting in January to elect McCarthy as speaker. This is the first time in over 100 years that the House attempted to vacate the speakership, and the only time it's been successful. After being pushed out, McCarthy said he would not try again for the post. 

What happens next?

• As the House is at a standstill, Congress has until mid-November to pass a long-term spending package. The current stopgap measure that passed last week only funds the government for 45 days.
• Another speaker election is in the near future, but it's still unclear who will run. No Republican has announced a bid for the position, but a few are expected to run, including Reps. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Steve Scalise (R-La.), Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), and McHenry. House Democrats plan to nominate Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
• Any candidate would have to win the House majority, which is expected to be difficult. Republicans have expressed that they will not support anyone who won't uphold their priorities, like enacting deep spending cuts and immigration limitations. On the other side of the aisle, Democrats control the Senate and the White House, making it unlikely that the GOP's wishes will come to fruition.
• Some Republicans are pushing the norms, given that the speaker doesn't need to be a House member, and are attempting to nominate former President Donald Trump. 

Why was McCarthy removed?

• The effort to remove McCarthy from his position was led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) — a result of McCarthy opting to avoid a government shutdown by relying on Democrats pushing through the stopgap spending bill, which Gaetz objected to. 
• On Monday evening, Gaetz rose to introduce a resolution to declare the speakership vacant, which started the process to force a vote within the next few days. This is seen as a form of political punishment that only two other speakers in history have been subjected to besides McCarthy. 
• The Florida representative noted McCarthy's dependence on Democrats to pass the funding bill, asserting it was a "secret deal" that required lying to Republicans.

How do you feel about electing a new speaker?

-Jamie Epstein

(Photo Credit: iStock/tzahiV)