After McCarthy’s departure as Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Republicans are in deep shock. Demands for layoffs are growing – and there is a desire to make ex-President Trump his successor.
Anger, defiance and concern prevailed in Washington the next day. For the first time in US history, the House of Representatives has no leader after eight Republican lawmakers voted to impeach Kevin McCarthy yesterday. Newton Gingrich, a conservative thinker, called for the insurrection leader to be expelled from the party.
Matt Gaetz is an anti-Republican who is actively destroying the conservative movement, Gingrich commented in the Washington Post. Others didn’t go that far. But: The eight must be held responsible for putting their own interests above those of the country, said Mike Lawler, a Republican from New York.
Lawler said on CNN that he personally thinks the eight politicians should lose their places on committees and it should be asked whether they should still be members of the group.
“We can’t do anything anymore”
The eight dissenters mostly come from the ultra-right camp of the parliamentary group, which forced the new chairman to go through 15 rounds of voting nine months ago. Among other things, they negotiated with him that Joe Biden’s government should be forced to spend significantly less money. A demand she believes McCarthy has failed to meet.
McCarthy also passed an interim House budget with the help of Democrats on Saturday to avert a government shutdown. Apparently that was the last straw. Byron Donalds, a representative from Florida, was also not satisfied with his chairman’s work, “but we should have finished our work in the end – and now we can’t do anything in the chamber,” Donalds said on Fox News.
Financing for Ukraine aid unclear
Congress must approve a long-overdue government budget by mid-November. Among other things, the US’s aid to Ukraine is controversial. President Joe Biden had already asked Congress for an additional $24 billion. That is now on hold. And the funds already approved will run out in the foreseeable future.
“We can hold out for a few more months. But what happens next with aid to Ukraine depends very much on who becomes the next chairman,” said Mark Esper, Donald Trump’s former defense secretary, on CNN.
McCarthy ruled out running again. There is speculation about others – including the name of former President Trump that has been brought into play. That would be possible because the chairman of the House of Representatives does not have to come from the ranks of the elected members. But Trump has not yet commented on this.
The first Republican enters the race
According to consistent media reports, the first Republican has publicly offered to be his successor. Trump loyalist and Representative Jim Jordan from the state of Ohio answered “yes” when asked by journalists at the US Congress whether he wanted to run for office, the broadcasters ABC News and Fox News reported, among others. Jordan also heads the Judiciary Committee, which is dealing with the impeachment investigation against US President Joe Biden. There could be an election by the middle of next week at the earliest.
Democrats also voted against McCarthy
The Democrats do not feel responsible for the chaos. The Republicans have done this to each other and therefore have to fix it. Also: From day one, there was chaos, division, disruption under McCarthy – but no result, said Pat Ryan, MP from New York, on CNN.
The Democrats are in the minority in the House of Representatives and also voted for the removal yesterday – partly because McCarthy initiated impeachment proceedings against President Biden. A vote on the successor is not expected until next week at the earliest.