Matt Gaetz becomes first Congressman to oust House speaker in U.S. history

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., became the first Congressman in U.S. history to successfully push through a motion to vacate a House speaker after filing the historic motion Monday night.

In a 216-210 vote on Tuesday, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was removed from the top position in the House. Gaetz’s motion to vacate ordinarily would have needed 218 votes but that threshold was lowered to 214 due to absences.

Nearly 115 years have passed since the House last voted on a motion to vacate a speaker, USA Today reported. That vote was triggered in 1910 against then-Speaker Joseph Cannon, R-Ill.

In 2015, then-Rep. Mark Meadows filed a motion against Speaker John Boehner, but it never made it to a floor vote.

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A House speaker had previously never been removed via a motion to vacate. Boehner resigned months after Meadows' motion amid continued dissent in his party.

During Tuesday's debate ahead of the vote, Gaetz doubled down on his intent to force McCarthy out.

“I don’t know how this vote is going to go,” Rep. Matt Gaetz said in his closing remarks. “We have to break this cycle. Let’s get our act together. Let’s get on with it. Let’s vacate the chair, and let’s get a better speaker."

Throughout the debate, Gaetz drew scorn from fellow Republicans who sometimes shouted and audibly groaned after his remarks.

Rep. Mike Garcia, who backed McCarthy, said the effort to topple him is "led by a few Republicans ... running with scissors and supported by Democrats who have personal issues with the speaker, have uncertain intentions, and even more uncertain goals."

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Gaetz threatened to eject McCarthy last week after he relied on Democrats to pass a short-term, stopgap measure to keep the government open, narrowly avoiding a shutdown on Saturday.

"We have to move to single-subject spending bills," Gaetz said. "That's why we now have to move to vacate because we have to get a system where the House and Senate will negotiate over each of these agencies of government independently.”

Who will replace Kevin McCarthy as House speaker?

It’s not yet clear who will replace McCarthy as the new House speaker. McCarthy submitted a succession list to the House clerk in January, though the document is private, USA Today reported.

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the House majority leader and majority whip Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Ind., are two likely options. McCarthy could also throw his name back in the hat to be reselected, although he has said he will not.

Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, now the acting speaker, declared the House in recess until both parties can decide on a path forward.

A temporary House speaker will replace McCarthy, which will be someone from the private backup list McCarthy provided at the beginning of the year. The interim speaker will fill his slot until a new election is held.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Matt Gaetz becomes first Congressman to oust House speaker