1st time in history for leader to be removed
By Bob Unruh
Joe Biden greets House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he arrives to deliver his State of the Union address, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, on the House floor of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Official White House photo by Adam Schultz)
The U.S. House has, for the first time in its 200-year-plus history, removed the speaker from his office.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was voted out on Tuesday as the result of a rebellion among House GOP members who wanted to adopt a more conservative, and more aggressive posture.
The vote, 216-210, came on a handful of GOP members upset with McCarthy’s leadership and all Democrats.
Fox News reported the movement was led by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who brought forward a plan called motion to vacate. He accused McCarthy of breaking promises he made to win the speaker’s gavel in January
Fox reported, “Tensions flared during an hour of debate before the actual motion to vacate, after 11 Republicans voted with every Democrat to advance the measure. McCarthy’s allies had taken up all of the microphones on the GOP side of the chamber, forcing Gaetz to make his case from the side where Democrats traditionally sit.