US House of Representatives ousts McCarthy in historic first
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For the first time in its 234-year history, the US House of Representatives backs a resolution "to vacate the office of the speaker" with a 216-210 vote.
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Ousted speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy (AP)
Kevin McCarthy was ousted Tuesday as speaker of the US House of Representatives in a historic rebellion by far-right Republicans furious at his cooperation with Democrats.
For the first time in its 234-year history, the House backed a resolution "to vacate the office of the speaker" with a 216-210 vote setting the stage for an unprecedented contest to replace McCarthy a year before the presidential election.
The ouster was supported by only a handful of right-wing Republican hardliners. However, the House was almost evenly divided and with Democrats joining eight rebel Republicans rather than riding to McCarthy's rescue, he had no way to survive. No other speaker has been ousted in US history.
The 58-year-old had sparked fury among conservatives when he passed a bipartisan stopgap funding measure at the weekend backed by the White House to avert a government shutdown.
Florida conservative Matt Gaetz, who forced the removal vote, gambled that he could oust the 55th speaker of the House of Representatives with just a few Republicans.
Republicans were warned by their leadership about plunging the party "into chaos" but Gaetz, who has repeatedly complained about McCarthy failing to honor agreements made with conservatives, replied, "Chaos is Speaker McCarthy."
"The reason Kevin McCarthy went down today is because nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy," he added after the vote. "Kevin McCarthy has made multiple contradictory promises, and when they all came due, he lost."
This comes two days after the House and Senate passed a measure to avert a costly government shutdown by extending federal funding through mid-November.
With McCarthy out, a temporary speaker put the House into recess until a permanent replacement is elected.
Republicans will gather at 6:30 pm (2230 GMT) to discuss putting up a candidate for a vote to be the new speaker.
