Rep. Jim Jordan stands on the floor of the House of Representatives after it became clear he would once again failed to win the Speaker's gavel during a third round of voting at the Capitol on Friday. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
On October 3rd, 2023, Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) filed to Congress to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) with a vote of 216 to 210 that saw eight Republicans join 212 Democrats who voted to oust McCarthy. The reason they did so was because they claimed that it was the Republicans' own internal issues. Hakeem Jefferies (D-NY), the House Minority Leader for the Democratic party, issued a statement on the same day the vote to oust the speaker occurred. The statement that was posted to Jefferies' website states, “In that regard, House Democrats remain willing to find common ground on an enlightened path forward. Unfortunately, our extreme Republican colleagues have shown no willingness to do the same. It is now the responsibility of the GOP members to end the House Republican Civil War.”
All of this started when Matt Gaetz filed to oust Kevin McCarthy over what he claimed was a failed promise that was agreed upon by McCarthy and was also caused when the house passed A spending bill to prevent a government shutdown which Gaetz accused McCarthy of working with the democrats in secrete on spending. On Gaetz's website, he states, “For the last eight months, Speaker McCarthy has been in breach of that agreement. While there have been minor improvements, like taking a vote on term limits in the House Judiciary Committee and passing some single-subject spending bills... All of Speaker McCarthy’s failure theater resulted in him teaming up with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution that funds Ukraine, funds Jack Smith’s election interference against President Trump, abandons E-Verify, and does nothing to put the interests of the American people first.”
What occurred following the ousting of McCarthy was political turmoil in the House of Representatives, as a literal civil war appears to be brewing in the Republican Conference. Many Republicans in the conference have blamed this turmoil on Representative Gaetz for the crisis he caused. At first, the Republican Conference elected to nominate Minority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) as their nominee for speaker, however with the infighting between the members of the conference and the holdouts not budging to vote for Scalise he decided to end his run for speakership. His other competitor for the speakership was Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH).
Jordan ran for the speakership after McCarthy was ousted but lost the nomination to Steve Scalise. However, when Scalise stepped down from the speakership contest, Jordan ran again and won the nomination. Jordan is on the House Judiciary Committee, is A vocal critic of President Joe Biden's policies, and is a member of the House Freedom Caucus. However, Jordan did not win the speakership vote, receiving 200 votes on the first ballot, 199 on the second ballot, and 194 on the third ballot. The needed majority for speakership is 217 to become Speaker, which Jordan failed to earn. There was a resolution to give more power to interim Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-NC) because of the ongoing crisis between Israel and Hamas, however, failed to become a reality.
After the third ballot failed to pass, the Republican Conference held a secret vote to see whether they should keep Jordan as their nominee, ultimately voting to not continue with Jordan as the Republican nominee for Speakership. The question that remains for so many in the federal government is, “What happens next?” There has never been a rebellion that was successful in ousting the speaker. In 1910 there was a rebellion against the House Speaker Joe Cannon because of the amount of power the speaker had at the time. Cannon had A revolt within his Republican party with the Progressives wanting to limit the powers of the House Speaker. This led to a Progressive Republican wing combining with A Democratic coalition to push for legislation to limit the powers which was successful ending the era of A “czar” speaker. Even though the Cannon was not kicked out of the speakership, it was a heavy blow and A progressive reform that limited the powers of the speakership.
Just three weeks after McCarthy's ousting, there is no clear path for what will happen next for the speakership. There are two scenarios now, as multiple candidates have now announced they will run for Speaker. Time will tell what will happen in the next couple of days and whether the government can get back on track to govern the people that elected them to do.