House GOP searches again for a Speaker

'Eight selfish assholes' oust McCarthy in historic first

Oct 04, 2023

Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for October 4, 2023:

With no Speaker, the House screeches to a halt.
Democrats unify to help boot McCarthy.
What I saw on Tuesday on Capitol Hill.

OUSTED. For the first time ever, the U.S. House on Tuesday voted to remove a sitting Speaker of the House, as eight Republican rebels joined with all Democrats to boot Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his post. The final tally was 216-210. McCarthy announced last night that he would not run again, as House Republicans won't try to elect a new Speaker until next week.

VACATE. After publicly threatening McCarthy’s job for months, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) brushed aside attacks from fellow Republicans, and knocked his own party’s Speaker out in a day of unprecedented drama on the House floor. "It's to the benefit of this country that we have a better Speaker of the House than Kevin McCarthy," Gaetz declared.

MCCARTHY. "You all know Matt Gaetz. You know it was personal," McCarthy told reporters, blaming Gaetz and Democrats for his downfall. “I think today was a political decision by the Democrats,” as McCarthy suggested that Democrats should have kept him in power to protect the institution.
GAETZ EIGHT. In the end, eight House Republicans voted to remove McCarthy as Speaker: Biggs of Arizona, Buck of Colorado, Burchett of Tennessee, Crane of Arizona, Gaetz of Florida, Good of Virginia, Mace of South Carolina, and Rosendale of Montana.
VOLUNTEER. "We need leadership that will take real action to address our country's serious financial crisis," said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN). "We either need to change our direction or change our leadership."
DOWNFALL. McCarthy started out by barely getting elected Speaker in January. He did well in his first few months, but never regained his footing after GOP protests began over the debt limit deal he reached with President Biden.
POWER. At odds with the Freedom Caucus, McCarthy lost control of the House floor for a week in June, lost control again in late July, and was derailed repeatedly on spending in September. In a final act of humiliation, McCarthy had to watch helplessly as the House ended his time as Speaker.

DEMOCRATS. If there was one surprise yesterday, it was how Democrats rallied around the idea of deposing McCarthy, refusing to save him from Gaetz’s challenge. "I underestimated the Dem Caucus’ animosity towards McCarthy," said Matthew Green, a political scientist at Catholic University. Maybe McCarthy did as well.

DEMS. For days, Democrats talked about voting ‘Present’ or staying on the sidelines. But when presented with the opportunity to get rid of McCarthy, they seized it with gusto. "Kevin McCarthy has broken too many promises to count," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL).
WORDS. Democrats saw McCarthy denounce Jan. 6 and then rush to Donald Trump’s side. They saw McCarthy cut a debt limit deal with President Biden, and then run away from it. McCarthy said a House vote was needed for any impeachment inquiry of President Biden, and then started one without a vote.
RASKIN. “Kevin McCarthy has come under lots of criticism for not keeping his word in a lot of different scenarios,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD).
STOPGAP. But the final straw came last weekend. Democrats were still fuming about how McCarthy tried to have a quick vote last Saturday on a GOP stopgap funding bill that no one had seen. "He tried to demand a vote within minutes of releasing the bill text," said Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA).
BLAME. The next day - after Democrats had helped him avoid a shutdown - McCarthy went on the Sunday shows and pointedly blamed Democrats for almost causing a shutdown. That stuck in their craw. "After the vote on Saturday, everybody saw it," said Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC).

GOP ANGER. It wasn't hard to find Republicans who were livid about the day's events, as they took aim at the eight GOP lawmakers who broke ranks. "I think we have eight selfish assholes that undermined the institution," said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY). "I think those eight people should be purged from the Republican Party,” said Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA).

SUNSHINE. Florida Republicans were especially mad, saying Gaetz was unrealistic in what he wanted McCarthy to achieve. “He was unwilling to take anything that was incremental,” said Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL). Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) bluntly said Gaetz was ‘focused on personalities rather than actual policies.’
FRIENDLY FIRE. “In politics, you expect the other party to attack you,” said Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY). “But when it comes from your own side, it hurts.”
NEXT SPEAKER. The obvious question is who can unite the House GOP. "I would hope that the next Speaker would not be someone who would team up with a small group of folks and vote with the entire Democratic caucus," said Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI).

ACTING. With McCarthy out of power, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) will stand in for now as Acting Speaker. Instead of moving immediately to select a replacement, McHenry set Republican elections for next week, to give time for GOP lawmakers to figure out a way forward. A candidate forum is expected on Tuesday.

FAVORITE. If I had to pick an early favorite to be the new Speaker, it would certainly be House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. Maybe Scalise could be challenged by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) or Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK). Those would be my top three candidates at this time.
TRUMP. And I'm sure there will be talk about one other person as well. "I nominate Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the House," said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX). (Nerd note: the rules for House Republicans don’t allow members of the GOP leadership to serve if that person is under indictment for a felony.)
BREAK. Without a Speaker, the House is grounded - no legislative business can be conducted on the House floor until a new Speaker is elected. That means no votes can take place this week - or maybe much of next week. “Nothing can be done on the floor,” said Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA).

VANTAGE POINT. With reporters crammed into the press galleries up above - "The press gallery is packed!" said Rep. Al Green (D-TX) - I watched the McCarthy events play out from the Speaker's Lobby, just off the House floor. This was yet another rare moment on Capitol Hill when none of us knew the outcome before the day began - and that included members of the House.

SPEAKER. I kept an eye on McCarthy for a long time. He quietly watched the debate and then sat through the lengthy roll call vote. By then, he knew full well that his time in power was ending. After the vote, GOP colleagues lined up to shake his hand. Suddenly, he was no longer in line for the White House.
SILENCE. Often it is loud in the Speaker's Lobby - but not on Tuesday. It was dead quiet, as reporters listened to the debate on their phones and spoke in whispers. One new reporter asked me what he should do. I told him he was in the best spot in the whole Capitol - just stand here and watch what happens.
AISLE. On TV, it wasn't obvious - but Republicans refused to let Gaetz and his backers speak from the GOP side of the aisle as lawmakers battled over McCarthy's future. Instead, Gaetz was on the Democratic side the entire time. (No Democrats spoke during debate.)
BUCKED. While the roll was being called, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) - who voted to get rid of McCarthy - walked the length of the Speaker's Lobby. Buck slowed and looked up at the central painting of the first House Speaker, Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania. Some day, Kevin McCarthy's painting might be up on that same wall - but not today.
FLY ON THE WALL. As the roll call was nearing an end, suddenly three key Republicans bolted out of the House chamber and went outside on the balcony to talk. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL). That would have been fun to listen to.
ON THE FLOOR. For lawmakers, it was a sobering moment. "As the votes were being tallied there was a long pause," said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA). "And during that time it kind of sunk in, the fact that history was being made right before my eyes."
HISTORY. Just before the debate began on the motion to vacate, a group of Senate Pages walked across the Capitol and were ushered into the House galleries to watch the historic events. (Luckily, no lawmaker cussed them out.)

IN THE CHAIR. Presiding over the debate on McCarthy's future was Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), who in my opinion does the best job of anyone from the House GOP. He came out to the Speaker's Lobby after the vote - and it was clear that the afternoon had taken a toll on the Arkansas Republican.

WOMACK. "I really don't have any words to describe what it felt like to be the individual that is reading the words that I just read - that declared a vacancy in the office of Speaker of the House," Womack told reporters. "It is the most surreal of the surreal."
PROCESS. Womack said his goal was to have a fair debate for both sides. "I didn't want anything to happen today that would put a stain on the institution from a strictly process standpoint," Womack said. "I think we did it in a way that would bring credit to the institution."
CLERK. While Womack was talking to us, House reading clerk Susan Cole walked into the Speaker's Lobby. She called the roll on the key vote to vacate the post of Speaker. Looking tired, Cole slumped into a big leather-backed chair. She threw her head back, closed her eyes, and sighed.

QUESTION. I was asked this repeatedly yesterday - what do Democrats gain by voting out McCarthy? I think it's mainly a chance to make their argument that Republicans are unable to complete the basic tasks of governance. You'll certainly hear that before the next shutdown deadline.

COMPARE. Remember, Nancy Pelosi had the exact same slim majority in the last Congress. While Democrats certainly disagreed with each other on policy and tactics - they managed to produce a series of big legislative victories.
GOP. Some Republicans made that point. "The Republican Party today just can't govern," said Ari Fleischer, once the Press Secretary for President George W. Bush. "Democrats have become the party of discipline and Republicans have become the party that lacks discipline," Fleischer said on Fox News.

GOLDEN STATE. If not for the historic vote for Speaker on the other side of the Capitol, most of the attention of reporters on Tuesday would have been in the Senate, where Democrat Laphonza Butler was sworn in to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who died last Thursday.

SCHUMER. "I can’t help but think how proud Senator Feinstein would be seeing someone as brilliant, as accomplished, as history-making as Laphonza Butler take her place," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. "I know that our old colleague is looking down at this moment with pride."
COMMITTEES. Butler's arrival means there will be some musical chairs being played among Democrats, as Feinstein held seats on some key committees: Judiciary, Appropriations, Intelligence, and Rules.
BUTLER. And no - I don't expect Republicans to block Butler from getting committee assignments. They have some old Senators of their own who could also need to be replaced - and that would set a very bad precedent.

RAP SHEET. Marc Bru, who went on the lam this summer in a bid to avoid prosecution, was found guilty yesterday on seven Jan. 6 charges. Bru is one of the many 'sovereign citizen' defendants, who claim the U.S. government has no jurisdiction over them. His sentencing has been set for January 8, 2024.

SENTENCING. Two more people convicted of Jan. 6 crimes will be sentenced today. Shane Woods pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers outside the Capitol. Salvatore Vassallo also pleaded guilty to assaulting officers that day.

MUSE OF HISTORY. October 4, 1972. On this date, the Senate took up a bill to authorize federal support for plans to build a mass transit line to Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, D.C. "This bill had its origins three years ago," said Sen. William Sprong of Virginia, who cited expressions of support for the plan. The rail line to Dulles airport was finally completed - fifty years later - in 2022.

LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House will not have votes until next week.

The Senate is back at 10 am.

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