Kevin McCarthy<\/a> has been toppled in a right-wing revolt – the first time ever that a US House of Representatives Speaker has lost a no-confidence vote. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe final tally was 216-210 to remove the congressman as leader of the Republican majority in the lower chamber of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hardliners in his party voted against him after he struck a deal with Senate Democrats to fund government agencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is no clear successor to oversee the House Republican majority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congress has just over 40 days to agree on a deal to avoid another potential government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, a Trump ally, filed a rarely used procedural tool known as a motion to vacate on Monday night to oust Mr McCarthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He accused the Speaker of making a secret deal with the White House to continue funding for Ukraine, amid negotiations to avert a partial government shutdown at the weekend. Mr McCarthy denies it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At a private meeting of Republican politicians on Tuesday evening after losing his job, Mr McCarthy told colleagues he did not plan to run for Speaker again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He later took aim at his political nemesis, Mr Gaetz, accusing him of attention-seeking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“You know it was personal,” Mr McCarthy told a news conference, “it had nothing to do with spending.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said fundraising emails sent by Mr Gaetz amid the infighting were “not becoming of a member of Congress”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hardliners who ousted him “are not conservatives”, Mr McCarthy added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He only became Speaker in January after a gruelling 15 rounds of voting in the chamber as Mr Gaetz and other right-wingers refused to support him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To win over those hardliners Mr McCarthy agreed to make it possible for a single member to put forward a motion to oust him, which is exactly what Mr Gaetz ultimately did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr McCarthy was supported by 210 Republicans but eight voted against him in Tuesday’s vote, joining all Democrat members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One vote against Mr McCarthy that surprised many came from a moderate Republican from South Carolina, Nancy Mace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said afterwards: “I am looking for a Speaker who will tell the truth to the American people, who will be honest and trustworthy with Congress, with both parties.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries had said in a letter to colleagues that he would not provide the votes needed to rescue Mr McCarthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, a left-wing Democrat from the north-western US state of Washington, said before the vote: “Let them wallow in their pigsty of incompetence.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The packed chamber – which Republicans control by a 221-212 majority – was mostly silent as members awaited the result of the roll call vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The office of Speaker of the House is hereby declared vacant,” said Arkansas Republican Steve Womack with a bang of his gavel, to audible gasps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier in the day the former president, Donald Trump, said on social media that the party should be “fighting the Radical Left Democrats” instead of each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
North Carolina Republican Patrick McHenry, who supported Mr McCarthy, is now the interim Speaker. He put the House in recess for a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is unclear if he will have the full powers of the office, or merely administrative powers and the ability to supervise a new election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rules do not state how long a person could fill in as an interim, though a vote on a new Speaker is planned for 11 October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Louisiana Republican Steve Scalise and Minnesota Republican Tom Emmer have been mentioned as potential replacements for Mr McCarthy. Neither has expressed any interest in the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that President Joe Biden is hoping the House would quickly elect a new Speaker, and noted that the “challenges facing our nation will not wait”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last two Republican Speakers – Paul Ryan and John Boehner – left Congress after repeated tangles with their more conservative colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The so-called motion to vacate had only previously been used twice in the past century to remove a Speaker – in 2015 and 2010 – though never successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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