(ConservativeInsider.org) – Two months after being removed as Speaker of the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced he will be resigning from his position in Congress.
The removal of McCarthy as Speaker of the House was a first for the United States, as no speaker has ever been voted out of the position before. The decision caused months of turmoil for the Republican party, who are narrowly holding onto the majority in the House. It took several weeks and multiple rounds of voting for McCarthy to be replaced, but eventually Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) earned enough votes to take over the position.
In addition to McCarthy’s departure, Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was also removed from his position, shrinking the Republican majority in the House from four to two. However, with the two vacancies in the House, there will be two special elections to fill the vacancies. While Republicans have 220 spots in the House after the departures of McCarthy and Santos, 218 votes are required to pass legislation, meaning Republicans will need to get almost every single House Republican to support any legislation they want to pass.
Though McCarthy served in the House for 17 years, he was only in the Speaker role for 7 months. McCarthy’s removal was instigated by his rival, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who initiated a “motion to vacate.” Though McCarthy had the support of the majority of Republicans, there were a handful of Republicans who were upset at McCarthy’s attempt to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown. The eight Republicans who were upset, along with the majority of Democrats, voted to oust McCarthy, leading to his removal.
In a piece written for the Wall Street Journal where McCarthy announced his resignation, he said he felt he “did the right thing” during his time in office. He highlighted the successes of Congress during his time as Speaker, including keeping the government running and the troops paid.
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