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'The Democrats Won': House Republicans Issue Dire Warnings After McCarthy Ousted As Speaker

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 04, 2023 1:15 PM

On Tuesday, eight Republicans joined all Democrats to vote to vacate the chair, ousting Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced the motion on Monday night. The remaining 96 percent of the Republican conference was less than happy, with many members issuing warnings about the ramifications involved.

Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), who spoke from the House floor in support of McCarthy, was one of the first to release a statement. "Republicans had an opportunity to focus all our energy against the disastrous Biden agenda that has resulted in open borders, rampant inflation, and skyrocketing crime. Instead, Matt Gaetz has paralyzed the House and brought our work for the American people to a halt," she said. "Hard working Americans are the ones who pay the price for political games like these – not the selfish politicians who play them. I will continue working to end the embarrassing chaos and dysfunction and pursuing solutions to the challenges Iowans are facing each day."

House Committee on Ways and Mean Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) also sent out a statement. His is one of the committees investing the Biden family.

"Today, House Democrats, in collusion with eight Republicans, pushed to oust a Republican Speaker of the House who won a conference election to be the Republican nominee for speaker and has overwhelming support among his Republican colleagues and a record of delivering for the American people. This decision is particularly abhorrent given the conservative victories that have been achieved this year under Speaker McCarthy – including the largest spending cut in the history of our nation alongside the biggest reforms to America’s welfare system in two decades signed into law," the statement began, speaking to McCarthy's successes. 

"Make no mistake: this needless and selfish action will stall and setback efforts to hold President Biden accountable for his involvement in his family’s business dealings, to cut spending, or to deliver for working class Americans. In fact, today’s actions actually empower those who want to increase spending and those who want to give a blank check to Ukraine," the statement went on to read. 

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The statement closed by reiterating Smith's support for McCarthy. "It is irrational that any House Republican would vote to push out Speaker McCarthy, who has done more than any Speaker of the House – Republican or Democrat – to give each and every member a voice at the table. Speaker McCarthy has led the House in achieving critical victories on behalf of the American people by empowering committees to do the legislative and oversight work that is needed, and by listening to all members about their concerns and priorities."

A statement from Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) focused on the role the eight Republicans played. Those eight included Gaetz, Reps. Andy Biggs and Eli Crane of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Matt Rosendale of Montana. 

"Today, eight Republicans joined the entire Democratic Caucus to derail a successful conservative agenda. This was a blow to the conservative movement and will not help us achieve our goals of reining in government spending, securing our border, and reversing the disastrous results from the Biden agenda," his statement said. "Make no mistake – many of the eight also recently joined the Democrats to vote against the strongest border security bill in history and some of the most significant spending reforms in our history. Today’s action will also impede the oversight being conducted on the Biden family. My focus will always be on improving our economy and increasing our safety, but this presents a new challenge due to House Democrats and the eight Republicans who partnered with them."

In a clip shared by WISN 12 News' Matt Smith, Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) mentioned that "these people who kicked out Kevin [McCarthy] don't have a Plan B," reminding how "it took about a month of begging Paul Ryan to take the job" to replace John Boehner as speaker in 2015. "Now we're right in the middle of the budget hut" and "we need a speaker so desperately," Grothman also warned.

Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) stressed to C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" that "the winners were the Democrats," considering that "these eight people who voted to vacate the chair voted with the Democrats."

Another Georgia Republican, Rep. Mike Collins, posted to X that one could hear "Democrat offices cheering like they won the World Cup" while walking the halls of the Capitol. "You tell me who just won," he wondered.

Others posted to X to highlight that the eight Republicans voted with Democrats. 

While speaking with CNN's Manu Raju on Tuesday, Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-MN) shared that "Republicans who have been claiming to be fiscal conservatives, just voted with every single Democrat in the House of Representatives," stressing that "that would be the equivalent of every Republican voting for Nancy Pelosi" to really drive the point home. "That's what they did."

Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) offered that "I think Kevin [McCarthy] recognizes that nobody can make their demands. And the conference is going to have to figure out how we -- how we deal with, you know, eight people that are here that candidly aren't interested in governing. They're more interested in, you know, grifting," he said, going on to call those members "anarchists."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), who has since confirmed he is running for speaker after raising chatter about the possibility, emphasized to Raju that it "was unfair," and that McCarthy "didn't deserve this, in my judgement."

"Hard working Americans" that Hinson mentioned likely have other priorities. This will dominate the news cycle though. As Matt covered, many stories that provided bad press to Democrats and/or President Joe Biden were buried as a result of the chaos. There was good news for Republicans as well thought that ought to have received more widespread attention, as a Gallup poll showed voters trust Republicans more on the economy.

Earlier on Wednesday, Guy issued his own warning, wondering "What Does McCarthy's Ousting Mean for Republicans?"

"As long as Republican voters tolerate or encourage grievance, victimhood and failure -- and incentivize selfish celebrity preening -- among their elected officials and candidates, we will get more of this. Advantage: Democrats.  For all their increasing radicalism and ruinous policies, Democrats ultimately prize winning and power," Guy wrote. He later warned that "whatever the GOP has been doing (largely because enough of them believe it's in their myopic interests to do so) is an embarrassing mess."

Users posted and reposted their concerns over X, especially since the continuing resolution (CR) that Congress passed on Saturday under McCarthy's leadership was only for 45-days.

There are also very real concerns about how this could affect 2024, with some convinced that this means that Republicans gave up their majority in the House. This includes some very strongly worded posts.