Just two days after Kevin McCarthy vowed that he would “survive” Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s attempt to oust him from the speakership, every Democrat and seven of Gaetz’s Republican colleagues voted with Gaetz to oust McCarthy from the speakership, CBS News reported.
While appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday morning, McCarthy told host Margaret Brennan, “I’ll survive.”
McCarthy said of Matt Gaetz that he is “more interested in securing TV interviews” and insisted Gaetz’s threat to file a Motion to Vacate the Chair was a personal vendetta. He said if Gaetz is “upset” because McCarthy stopped his push to get the government to shut down, then “let’s have that talk.”
After threatening to move forward with his motion while appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Gaetz followed through on Monday, formally introducing the Motion to Vacate the Chair.
The House voted on the motion Tuesday, with Gaetz working with Democrats to force it through on a vote of 216 to 210.
Voting with the Democrats and Gaetz were Republican Reps. Andy Biggs and Eli Crane of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Matt Rosendale of Montana, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, and Bob Good of Virginia.
McCarthy said in a press conference after Tuesday’s vote that he would not seek the speakership again.
The ousted speaker noted that only 4 percent of the Republican conference joined with every Democrat to “dictate who can be the Republican Speaker,” adding that he didn’t think that was good for the institution.
McCarthy vowed to continue fighting “in a different manner,” explaining that he will not run again for Speaker but will allow the Republican conference to choose someone else.
Under the House rules passed in January, in the event of a vacancy in the speakership, a speaker pro tempore will be selected from the first name on a list McCarthy submitted to the clerk of the House in January.
That name was North Carolina Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry.
