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After months of threatening to do so, Congressman Matt Gaetz (FL-04) filed a motion to vacate the Office of Speaker on Monday evening, a procedural maneuver to strip Kevin McCarthy from his position as Speaker of the House. This was made possible by a change in the House Rules as part of a deal he made with the House Freedom Caucus (aka The “Chaos Caucus”) to break the impasse and gain a majority to be elected Speaker on the 15th vote at the beginning of this Congress. Ever since, the Chaos Caucus has threatened to oust McCarthy if he did not comply with their extreme policy wish list. Rep. Gaetz’s motion came after weeks of House Republican infighting that caused the House to barely avoid a government shutdown by passing a continuing resolution (CR) to extend Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 funding through November 17th.
A recap of how we got here.
Under McCarthy’s leadership, the Chaos Caucus held the American economy hostage to their demands for severe spending cuts for fundamental social safety net programs that American families, seniors, and veterans rely on through their Default on America Act. After weeks of extreme MAGA Republican intransigence brought the United States to the brink of a catastrophic default on its national debt, McCarthy negotiations with the Biden-Harris Administration resulted in the Bipartisan Budget Agreement to avoid a default. The agreement included maintaining FY2023 spending levels into FY2024 in the twelve appropriations bills that had to pass before October 1st.
The Chaos Caucus almost immediately revolted. As a result, McCarthy reneged on his deal, and the House spent months debating and voting on spending bills loaded down with poison pill culture war amendments and deep cuts that McCarthy knew were dead on arrival in the Senate. This quixotic exercise culminated Friday in a CR to fund the government for 30 days with draconian 30% across the board cuts to discretionary spending, such as public education and head start, small business and farming loans, food assistance, and disaster relief. I opposed this resolution, and it ultimately failed because it wasn’t extreme enough for the Chaos Caucus.
On Saturday, mere hours before the government would shut down, McCarthy dropped H.R. 5860 - an over 70-page CR - and demanded we vote on it 15 minutes later. He even rejected a request from Democratic leadership for a 90 minute recess to allow us to read the bill. Democratic leadership used a procedural vote and a powerful floor speech from Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) to buy time for us to review the bill. Needing a vote of two-thirds of the House to pass, the CR passed the House 335 to 91 and passed the Senate 88 to 9.
Nearly half of the Republican conference voted against the CR, because it did not include their devastating cuts and poison pill policies. I was proud to join my House Democrat colleagues to deliver the necessary votes to bring the legislation across the finish line and avoid a shutdown, which would have been devastating to the nation, and particularly Virginia, which has the second highest number of federal employees and receives the second most federal funding of all the states. You can read my statement on the House-passed CR and the full bill text.
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After the vote, McCarthy claimed on Face the Nation “Democrats tried to do everything they can not to let it pass,” despite the fact that more House Democrats voted for it than House Republicans. Still, House Democrats remained willing to work on a bipartisan basis to pass the remaining appropriations bills before November 17th. Once the motion to vacate was filed, McCarthy once again showed that when the Chaos Caucus strikes, he is loath to work with Democrats to stop them.
Yesterday, the House voted 216 to 210 on the motion to vacate, making McCarthy the first Speaker of the House removed from office. I joined the entire Democratic caucus to vote yes. It was not a decision I made lightly, and took no pleasure in casting, but it was the right vote for the future of the House. From the first day of the 118th Congress, McCarthy has demonstrated an inability to govern, a lack of leadership over his conference, and an unwillingness to focus on the issues that matter to the American people, as he continuously caved to the extreme MAGA contingent of his conference, leaving the Chaos Caucus to effectively reign over the House. He also showed time and again that he is not trustworthy and that his word means nothing.
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Now, under the Rules of the House, Representative Patrick McHenry (NC-10) is Speaker Pro Tempore until the elections of a Speaker. Upon taking the gavel, he adjourned the House subject to the call of the chair. House Republicans are expected to select a new Speaker next week. In the meantime, no further House business will be conducted.
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