Speaker ousted from US House of Representatives
The speaker of the House has a huge job in the U.S. government. He or she is the leader of the House of Representatives. Kevin McCarthy got that top job on January 7, 2023. However, he held the role for less than nine months. On October 3, lawmakers voted to remove McCarthy as speaker of the House. After the 2022 election, there were 222 Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives in January 2023. That meant the Republican Party controlled the House and could choose the speaker of the House. Yet Republican representatives could not agree on a new leader. After four days and 14 rounds of voting, no candidate had enough votes to become the speaker. At last, on the 15th vote, McCarthy became the speaker of the House of Representatives on January 7, 2023. However, some Republican leaders disagreed with McCarthy’s leadership. They felt he wasn’t doing enough to cut back on government spending. On September 30, McCarthy worked with other lawmakers to create a new spending plan for the United States. Without an agreement, parts of the U.S. government would have had to shut down on October 1. U.S. President Joe Biden signed the plan into law. President Biden is the leader of another political party: the Democratic Party. U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz from Florida was upset with this new bill. Like McCarthy, he is a member of the Republican Party. Gaetz called for a vote to remove McCarthy as speaker. On October 3, a total of 416 lawmakers made their choice. 210 U.S. representatives voted to keep McCarthy in power and 216 voted against him (with seven members not voting). With more than half of all the votes against him, McCarthy lost his job. The first speaker of the House (Frederick Muhlenberg) took the job with the 1st Congress in 1789. More than 233 years later, McCarthy became the 55th person to hold the post. However, he became the first to be removed from power after a vote from other lawmakers. McCarthy spoke to reporters after he was ousted as speaker. “I may have lost a vote today,” he said, “but I fought for what I believe in — and I believe in America.” McCarthy added: “It has been an honor to serve.” Representative Patrick McHenry from North Carolina took the role of speaker pro tempore. That means he has the speaker's duties — but only briefly. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives must vote to choose a new speaker. McCarthy says he will not try to run for the job again.