Tipsheet

GOP Rep: ‘Chaos’ Would Continue If McCarthy Remained Speaker

On Tuesday, members of the House of Representatives voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker of the House. 

As Spencer covered, by a vote of 216 to 210, the Motion to Vacate prevailed, which was spearheaded by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). 

As Spencer noted, the Republicans joining Gaetz in his motion to vacate were Reps. Biggs (AZ), Rep. Ken Buck (CO), Rep. Tim Burchett (TN), Rep. Eli Crane (AZ), Rep. Bob Good (VA), Rep. Nancy Mace (SC), and Rep. Matt Rosendale (MT).

After the vote, Gaetz told reporters outside: "It's to the benefit of this country that we have a better Speaker of the House than Kevin McCarthy!"

"We are breaking the fever now, and we should elect a speaker who's better,” he added.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, Mace claimed that McCarthy “has not lived up to his word on how the House would operate.” 

“I came here to take difficult votes and do the right thing, regardless of the pressure and regardless of the threats (bc there’s been plenty of both). Today I’m voting against 95 percent of my party in the hopes of fixing how Congress operates,” she added. “With the current Speaker, this chaos will continue. We need a fresh start so we can get back to the people’s business free of these distractions. I’ll work with anyone willing to do that and look forward to voting for a Speaker who shares this vision for changing Congress and getting us back on a path to delivering results for the people.”

In January, McCarthy was elected speaker after 15 rounds of voting over the course of several days.