USA: Historic vote: McCarthy removed from US House of Representatives does not want to run again

McCarthy’s term as head of the House of Representatives ends after just ten months. The process is historically unique.

October 3, 2023 | Update: October 3, 2023 – 9:11 pm

Washington For the first time in US history, a leader of the House of Representatives was removed from his powerful position by a parliamentary vote. The majority of the House voted Tuesday to remove Republican leader Kevin McCarthy from office. The backdrop is an internal revolt among Republicans. The Speaker of the House of Representatives ranks third in the US, after the President and his Vice-President.

McCarthy has ruled out a bid to return to the top of the House. “I will not run for president again,” he said on Tuesday night (local time).

Led by Republican hard-liner Matt Gaetz, several other Republicans voted to remove McCarthy. The Democrats present in the House, in turn, decided not to help McCarthy and voted against him. In fact, Republicans have a voice in the House, but only by a very narrow margin. Due to the number of internal rebels in his own ranks, a narrow majority against McCarthy was achieved.

Gaetz introduced a motion for McCarthy’s removal to the House of Representatives on Monday night. The 41-year-old accused McCarthy, among other things, of making common cause with Democratic President Joe Biden rather than working for the Republican faction. The reason is the budget dispute in the USA. Gaetz was troubled by the fact that McCarthy used Democratic votes to avert an imminent government shutdown at the eleventh hour last weekend. On Saturday, Congress approved an interim budget until mid-November. But he also accused McCarthy of violating several intra-party agreements – so he shouldn’t be trusted.

Since the Parliamentary Chamber itself elects its president, it is also the only body that can force him to leave office – at the request of the deputies. However, never before has a mayor lost his position in this way. In the history of Congress, there has been only one previous vote on the floor of the House of Representatives on a motion to remove the president. That was over a hundred years ago: 1910.

The House of Congress will likely be paralyzed for now by the election of a new president. Until the personal data is clarified, all remaining legislative work is suspended. The parliamentary chaos comes at a time when Congress, among other things, has to approve a federal budget, as the interim budget expires in mid-November. If a new budget is not approved on time, the US will once again head towards a temporary halt in government business, a “shutdown”.

The US Parliament also has to decide on new aid to Ukraine. The provisional budget approved over the weekend does not provide for any additional aid to the country attacked by Russia. This does not mean that the US will stop supporting Ukraine from now on. However, the money approved so far is running out and new funds are needed. Internal partisan struggles among US Republicans therefore also have international effects.

Gaetz accused McCarthy of making secret deals with Biden over more aid to Ukraine. McCarthy rejected this. Gaetz has been one of McCarthy’s staunchest opponents for some time.

McCarthy was only elected president on the 15th ballot in January and was therefore seen as seriously weakened from the start. At that time, he had to go a long way to accommodate the radical right in his group to be elected to office with the help of their votes. Among other things, the radicals in the parliamentary group ensured that a single member of parliament could present a motion to remove the president – which Gaetz has now taken advantage of. Radical MPs have been lobbying McCarthy tirelessly since January.