On October 3, 2023, the United States House of Representatives voted 216–210 to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House. It was the first time in the 234-year history of the institution that a Speaker had been removed through a motion to vacate. Eight Republicans — led by Matt Gaetz of Florida — voted with all 208 Democrats to end McCarthy’s speakership. What followed was 22 days of chaos that made the country look ungovernable. Because it was.
How We Got Here
McCarthy had barely won the gavel in January 2023 — it took 15 rounds of voting, the most since 1859. To secure the final holdout votes, he made a critical concession: any single member could file a motion to vacate the chair. He handed the loaded gun to people who were always going to pull the trigger.
The trigger was a continuing resolution. On September 30, with a government shutdown hours away, McCarthy brought a bipartisan stopgap funding bill to the floor. It passed with Democratic votes. Matt Gaetz filed the motion to vacate the next day. His stated reason: McCarthy relied on Democrats to govern. The actual reason: Gaetz wanted chaos, and McCarthy had given him the mechanism to create it.
216 to remove, 210 to keep. The eight Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy: Matt Gaetz (FL), Andy Biggs (AZ), Ken Buck (CO), Tim Burchett (TN), Eli Crane (AZ), Bob Good (VA), Nancy Mace (SC), and Matt Rosendale (MT). All 208 Democrats voted to remove. McCarthy did not attempt to negotiate with Democrats to save his seat.
The Speaker Search From Hell
What followed was a spectacle that would have been funny if it weren’t the governing body of the world’s most powerful nation:
Steve Scalise won the initial Republican conference vote but couldn’t secure enough floor votes. He withdrew after one day.
Jim Jordan — Ohio congressman, Freedom Caucus co-founder, and a man who reportedly ignored sexual abuse allegations while a wrestling coach at Ohio State — went to the floor three times. He lost each ballot, with opposition growing from 20 to 22 to 25 Republicans. His allies reportedly threatened and harassed members who wouldn’t vote for him. He was dropped by the conference after the third failure.
Tom Emmer won the conference vote, then discovered he couldn’t get 217 floor votes. Trump publicly opposed him. Emmer withdrew after approximately four hours as the nominee. Four hours.
Mike Johnson of Louisiana — the fourth choice — was elected on October 25, 2023, 22 days after McCarthy’s removal. Johnson had been in Congress for just six years. He was the least experienced Speaker in over a century. And he had a particular qualification that went largely unmentioned during the vote: he had helped coordinate legal efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, circulating an amicus brief signed by 126 House Republicans supporting a lawsuit to throw out votes in four states.
Bottom Line
The Republican House majority couldn’t keep a Speaker, couldn’t agree on a replacement, and took three weeks to settle on a fourth-choice candidate whose main qualification was helping Trump try to overturn an election. The House was paralyzed during active international crises. No legislation could move. No committees could function. Eight members of the majority blew up the institution because one of them had a grudge. This is what happens when the party of “limited government” gets its wish — a government so limited it can’t even elect its own leadership.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Comprehensive timeline of removal vote, 216–210 result, eight Republican votes.
- Wikipedia: Full speaker election timeline — Scalise, Jordan (3 ballots), Emmer (4 hours), Johnson elected October 25.
- Associated Press: McCarthy removal vote coverage, October 3, 2023.
- New York Times: Mike Johnson elected Speaker, background on election overturn role.