Kevin McCarthy ousted as US House speaker by Republican dissidents in historic vote

Republican Kevin McCarthy was toppled on Tuesday as US House speaker by dissidents within his own party, ending his tumultuous nine months in the job and sending a fractious Congress into further disarray. 

The 58-year-old veteran California politician, who navigated treacherous political cross-currents to avert a US debt default earlier this year and a 1 October government shutdown, now becomes the first US House speaker removed from his job.

The 216 to 210 vote raises fresh questions about dysfunction in Washington. Moody’s Investors Service, the only remaining major credit grader to give the US a top rating, warned in late September its confidence in the US was wavering because of concerns about “governance”.

McCarthy’s fate was sealed by hardliners frustrated with his bipartisan dealmaking. Democrats, who vented grievances against McCarthy in a closed-door party meeting on Tuesday morning, refused to rescue him.

The last time the House even voted on removing a speaker was in 1910. In that case, the then speaker, Joseph Cannon, survived the test.

There’s no obvious successor to unify the fractious party, a vacuum that comes as the US approaches a 17 November deadline to keep the government open. A disruptive shutdown would send cascading effects across the US economy.

US aid to Ukraine, which has become a source of vitriol for GOP hardliners and was dropped from the short-term spending deal, hangs in the balance. So, too, do contentious battles over immigration and asylum policy, and support for the poor.

The House is likely to grind to a halt during the battle over the speaker’s gavel.

McCarthy, a determined political survivor who has said he won’t quit, could run again for the job immediately. But his first campaign for the speaker took an extraordinary 15 rounds and a second run at the speakership is unlikely to be any easier.

The resolution was brought to the House floor by conservative firebrand Matt Gaetz of Florida.

The vote unfolded in a rare formal roll call on the House floor, requiring each member to stand and declare their decision on whether McCarthy should be removed from his post. It was an echo of the same ritual McCarthy went through 15 times to be elected speaker in January.

Challenges ahead