House of Representatives
US Parliament before historic vote on McCarthy’s removal
Kevin McCarthy was considered politically weak from the start. photo
© J. Scott Applewhite/AP/dpa
The road to the presidency of the US House of Representatives was rocky for Kevin McCarthy. After the budget dispute, the right-wing fringe of his party is making life difficult for him again – and is resorting to a rare measure.
For the first time in more than a century, the US House of Representatives is facing a vote on the possible removal of its leader. The Republican Kevin McCarthy is faced with a revolt within the party and has serious fears for his office.
Radical Republican MP Matt Gaetz is leading the rebellion against his party colleague McCarthy. On Monday evening he submitted a motion for his removal from office to parliament. McCarthy’s supporters initially tried to defeat the motion with a countermotion and prevent a vote on a possible removal of the chairman. However, the necessary majority for this was not achieved.
The plenary session then began a debate on Gaetz’s proposal, at the end of which there would likely be the historic vote. It would be the first such vote in the chamber’s plenary session since 1910. A motion to remove the chairman is extremely rare in the US House of Representatives. Such proposals have only been put forward three times in the history of the Congressional Chamber. And so far there has only been one vote in the chamber’s plenary session. No chairman has ever lost his office in this way.
Gaetz accuses McCarthy, among other things, of making common cause with Democratic President Joe Biden instead of working for the Republican faction. The reason is the budget dispute in the USA. The hardliner Gaetz is, among other things, bothered by the fact that McCarthy averted an impending government shutdown at the last moment with the votes of Democrats over the weekend. But he also accuses his party colleague of violating agreements. Gaetz said in the debate that McCarthy could not be trusted.