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McCarthy’s ouster highlights deeper GOP dysfunction
A small group of radicals used a quirk in the rules to boot out a leader who enjoyed the support of the vast majority of the Republican conference.
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US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his leadership position on Tuesday by a small group of radical members of his own party.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Jonathan Bernstein
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In a historic vote, US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his leadership position on Tuesday Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida.
The Republican conference has been plagued with dysfunction for a while now. Still, the vote was a stunning display of just how broken and dysfunctional the system has become. Other House Speakers have been pushed out, and Republican Speaker John Boehner retired while facing a threat of being ousted. But this is the first time a sitting Speaker has been removed by a vote. Mr Gaetz exercised a little-known procedure that had not been used in more than one hundred years to push a vote to “vacate” the Speaker’s chair. When it was over, eight Republicans and every Democrat had voted to remove Mr McCarthy.
