Kevin McCarthy (R-California) is now the first speaker in history to have been voted out of his job — 216 to 210 — with a mere eight Republican detractors in his slim majority sealing his fate and siding with Democrats to oust him. The eight Republicans who voted against McCarthy are: Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Matt Rosendale of Montana.
McCarthy soon after announced he would not run again, and left open whether or not he would remain in the House for his full term. Representative Patrick McHenry (R-North Carolina) has been appointed as speaker pro tempore, essentially a hall monitor position that will enable him to call the House to order, make general announcements, answer parliamentary inquiries, rule on points of order and designate another speaker pro tempore. But, he has no other powers and may not administer the oath of office to a member-elect without unanimous consent or specific House approval, among other restrictions. McHenry immediately announced the House would adjourn until Tuesday, October 10th to discuss possible McCarthy successors, with a vote on a new speaker planned for October 11th. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio emerged as leading contenders although many other names are being floated. In addition, three Republicans have already said they plan to nominate former President Donald J. Trump for Speaker, as one does not have to be a member of the House to serve as Speaker. Republicans have a narrow majority of 221 to 212, and McCarthy only managed to become speaker by making a series of concessions to the most conservative members a scenario that will repeat itself. It’s unclear if in fact the Republican majority will begin the process of electing a successor on October 11th, and the House could potentially be paralyzed for weeks. In January, when the 118th Congress convened and Republicans took power, it famously took 15 rounds of voting across four days for McCarthy to secure the support he needed to win the gavel.
The Senate convened at 10:00 A.M. and will consider the nomination of James C. O’Brien to be Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, the nomination of Brendan Abell Hurson to be United States District Judge for the District of Maryland and the nomination of Susan Kim DeClercq to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan. The Senate will adjourn earlier than planned this week, with no session on Thursday, to allow members to travel to California and pay their respects to the late Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California).
