Kevin McCarthy, a republican, has been voted out as speaker
of the US house of representatives, becoming the first in the nation's history
to be so removed.
A simple majority of 216 to 210 ensured McCarthy surrendered
the gavel, as questions mounted over his leadership.
Eight republicans teamed up with democrats to remove him
from the position.
"The office of the speaker is hereby declared vacant," the presiding officer bellowed, as silence engulfed the house.
Afterwards, McCarthy told lawmakers he would not run for
speakership again, leaving the gavel up for grabs.
"I may have lost this vote today, but as I walk out of
this chamber, I feel fortunate to have served," McCarthy said at a press
conference at the Capitol.
Patrick McHenry would temporarily serve in the role until a
new speaker is elected.
Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, said
President Joe Biden "hopes the house will quickly elect a speaker. The
president looks forward to working with them".
Matt Gaetz, the far right Florida congressman who launched
the moves to remove McCarthy, said ahead of the vote that "Speaker
McCarthy has failed to take a stand where it matters. So if he won't, I
will".
McCarthy got off to a rocky start as speaker in January,
after democrats ceded control of the house to the republicans in the mid-term
elections.
He secured the speakership after heated exchanges - which
almost saw fellow republicans come to blows - and 15 rounds of voting. He had
been opposed by a handful of members of his own party.
McCarthy's leadership was recently questioned within the GOP
(as the republican party is also known) after he reached a deal with democrats
to avoid a government shutdown over the weekend.
The deal meant that republicans could not push through a
bill that would have imposed dramatic cuts of as much as 30 percent on a number
of Biden's social programmes.
On Monday, Gaetz commenced moves to remove McCarthy as
speaker, alleging that the Californian had betrayed the GOP by working on a
deal with democrats to avoid a shutdown of government.
McCarthy responded to Gaetz's plot with "bring it
on". Hours later, he became the first US speaker to be removed from the
role through a congressional vote.
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