Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday was removed from his job as speaker of the US House of Representatives after a mutiny by hard-right members of his own Republican Party.
Mr McCarthy’s removal came in a 216-210 vote. Democrats voted to remove him as a bloc and they were joined by several Republicans.
It is a first in the history of the US Congress: the Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, was ousted from his post on Tuesday, the victim of fratricidal quarrels within his party.
To win the speakership election in January, he had to make huge concessions with around twenty Trumpists, including accepting that any elected official would have the power to call a vote to impeach him.
That promise came back to haunt him on Tuesday.
The procedural “motion to vacate” vote was last brought to the House of Representatives in 1910, but the speaker was not removed at the time.
Mr McCarthy has served less than one year in the job, managing challenges from hardline Republicans amid a narrow party majority control of the chamber after last year’s midterm elections.
A vote for a new speaker is expected next week. Mr McCarthy said he will not run for the position again, adding “it was an honour to serve”.
Per Second News gathered that representatives blames McCarthy mainly for negotiating a provisional budget to fund the federal administration with Democratic legislators, which was opposed by many conservatives. He also accuses McCarthy of reaching a “secret deal” with President Joe Biden on a possible package for Ukraine.
The right wing of the Republican Party is strongly opposed to the release of additional funds for Kyiv, believing that the money should instead be used to combat the migratory crisis on the border between the United States and Mexico.
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