The Slatest for Oct. 3: McCarthy Voted Out as Speaker of the House

Kevin McCarthy’s days as House speaker are over! It all happened incredibly quickly, but if you think back to the concessions he made to get the title in the first place, maybe it’s not that surprising. Things still seem to be a bit of a mess on Capitol Hill, with both parties regrouping to figure out what’s next. You can catch up on the congressional chaos of the day here.

There’s so much more at stake in the FTX trial than the fate of disgraced CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. His “alleged misdeeds are inextricable from the industry that built him up, let him thrive, and ultimately gave him the space to detonate himself,” Alex Kirshner writes. He considers the ways in which this trial serves as a reckoning for the crypto industry at large.

Plus: There’s the mysterious rival, the ex-girlfriend hedge fund CEO turned star witness … and maybe Tom Brady? Nitish Pahwa breaks down who’s who at the FTX trial.

The Supreme Court can’t stop falling for phony plaintiffs! Sarah Lipton-Lubet takes a closer look at how right-wing groups are constructing straw-man plaintiffs—and how the GOP-appointed justices have been all too happy to play along.

Plus: Jay Willis considers how the Supreme Court’s odd couple, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Neil Gorsuch, have come out swinging on behalf of criminal defendants.

Speaking of court … Trump is in one again this week (physically, even)! If you’re losing track of his various legal woes at this point, Shirin Ali is here to catch you up on what’s going on with his New York fraud case, and what he potentially stands to lose.

Plus: Ben Mathis-Lilley looks ahead to Trump’s upcoming year of trials, and thinks through what that might mean for the 2024 presidential primary.

… has allowed Laphonza Butler to be appointed as the new interim California senator, despite being a resident of Maryland. Huh? Mark Joseph Stern explains how that works. (And work it did—Kamala Harris swore her in next door to all the McCarthy drama today.)

The Expendables franchise is dying. Jody Rosen reflects on the end of a great American tradition.

Defenders of Elon Musk’s George Soros comments are objecting to an argument no one is actually making, Emily Tamkin writes. She digs into one of the most annoying modern debates about antisemitism.

Pour one out for Kevin McCarthy!

Thanks so much for reading, and we’ll see you tomorrow.