The House of Representatives suspended sessions for a week after ousting Republican speaker Kevin McCarthy from office on Tuesday. The ex-house speaker was voted out by a procedure he agreed to follow.
This procedure meant that just one member can move to eliminate the chamber’s top elected official. That one member was Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, who said McCarthy was unfit for office because he wasn’t working closely enough with fellow Republicans.
“It’s to the benefit of this country that we have a better speaker than Kevin McCarthy,” He said the California representative “is a feature of the swamp… we are breaking the fever now and we should elect a speaker that is better,” adding that “The reason he went down today is because no one trusts him.”
After the vote, in which eight Republicans joined all the Democrats to vote McCarthy out, the now ex-Speaker held a press conference.
“I think Matt had planned this all along,” McCarthy said. “I firmly believe it’s the right decision to keep government open, to make sure our military is still paid, our border agents are still paid. If that makes a challenge based upon whether I should be speaker, I’ll take that fight.”
Several names have been mentioned as possible replacements, including Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana. Members are expected to vote on a new speaker next Wednesday when they return from recess.
