faq
After the head of the US House of Representatives was voted out, many questions arise: What do the extreme Republicans around Matt Gaetz want to achieve? How are the Democrats reacting? And what’s next for US aid to Ukraine? An overview.
What happened?
The US House of Representatives is, along with the Senate, one of the two chambers of the US Congress. The Republican Party has a narrow majority of nine seats there and can therefore appoint the chairman. The Republican hardliner Matt Gaetz and seven other Republicans from the right-wing fringe of the party now voted to remove the previous incumbent McCarthy from power.
Although the overwhelming majority of the Republican faction supported McCarthy, the eight rebels created a narrow majority against McCarthy. The Democrats in the House of Representatives, in turn, refrained from coming to McCarthy’s aid and also voted against him.
Why was McCarthy voted out?
Gaetz and his colleagues accused McCarthy of violating intra-party agreements and preferring to work together with US President Joe Biden and his Democrats instead of representing the interests of his group. Among other things, Gaetz was bothered by the fact that McCarthy had averted an impending government shutdown at the last moment with the votes of Democrats last weekend. Gaetz said McCarthy was part of the Washington “swamp” – he couldn’t be trusted.
Who is Matt Gaetz?
Gaetz, a Florida lawyer, has been one of McCarthy’s most bitter opponents for some time. The 41-year-old regularly spreads conspiracy theories and represents extreme right-wing positions – for example, he is strictly against abortion, rejects same-sex marriage and opposes aid for Ukraine, which is attacked by Russia. Gaetz stands firmly at the side of former President Donald Trump and, with a view to the revolt against McCarthy, said that he was just “cleaning house” for the time when Trump returns to the top of the government. Gaetz was investigated for years on suspicion that he had had sex with a minor – but the Justice Department ultimately did not bring charges.
Who is the loser?
McCarthy was elected leader of the House of Representatives in January of this year for only the 15th attempt. That in itself was a humiliation of historical proportions. In a press conference after his no less dramatic deselection, he was partly emotional and partly aggressive. The 58-year-old dealt against his opponents, especially against Gaetz. This was never about content, but only about personal matters – and about getting media attention. Nothing that Gaetz said is true.
McCarthy also complained bitterly that a leader had the overwhelming majority of his group behind him and yet was removed from office by eight MPs along with the other party. Parliament as an institution has failed. He is at peace with himself and, looking back, would not do anything differently. McCarthy added self-deprecatingly: “I made history, didn’t I?”
Who will be the successor?
It is completely unclear who could move up. In any case, McCarthy does not want to run again – he made that clear after the vote. Gaetz also assured that he had no ambitions to run for office himself – nor would he be able to win a majority. In an extremely fragmented faction, it is generally unclear who can unite enough party colleagues behind them. Several names are circulating: including the previous Republican number two in the chamber, Steve Scalise.
When will elections be held again?
The only thing that is clear for now is that nothing will happen for a week: the Republicans want to take that much time to sort themselves out and figure out personal details. There could be an election by the middle of next week at the earliest. How many ballots will be necessary is unclear.
What are the direct consequences?
Until a new chairman is elected, nothing will happen in the House of Representatives: all legislative work is on hold for the time being. And this at a time when Congress, among other things, has to pass a federal budget. An agreed transition budget expires in mid-November. If no new budget is passed by then, the USA will once again be heading towards a standstill in government business, a “shutdown”.
In addition, a constitutionally important position is vacant. The chairman of the House of Representatives comes third in the state ranking after the president and his vice president. The Republican Patrick McHenry takes on formal tasks as interim chairman, but does not fill the role politically.
What will happen to the aid for Ukraine?
Parliament must also decide on new aid for Ukraine. The interim budget does not provide for any further aid for the country attacked by Russia. This does not mean that the USA will no longer support Kiev from now on. However, the money approved so far is running out and new funds are needed.
White House National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby said on Tuesday that the current tranche approved by Congress was enough to help Ukraine for “a few more weeks” or “a few months.” However, a precise estimate depends on the current conditions on the battlefield. At the same time, Kirby warned that “time is not our friend.”
What’s next for the Republicans?
The action is the culmination of a long struggle by the Republicans for nothing less than the essence of the party. Before the vote, Gaetz and other hardliners dueled with moderate Republicans on the open stage in Parliament. Republican Tom McClintock complained that Parliament would be paralyzed and busy week after week with fruitless voting while the real work was left behind. He predicted: “Democrats will revel in Republican dysfunction, and the public will rightly be repulsed.”
Republican Kelly Armstrong complained that his group was being held hostage by a small group. This could ultimately cost the Republicans their majority.
How are the Democrats reacting?
The Democrats argued that it was not their job to save McCarthy from the “civil war” within their own ranks. It is up to the majority faction to choose the chairman. For now, the Democrats could benefit from the implosion of the Republican caucus. But the longer the deadlock in Congress lasts, the greater the pressure will be on them to show common sense in the interests of the country and support a compromise candidate.
What are the further reactions?
President Biden called on the House of Representatives to “quickly” elect a successor. “The urgent challenges facing our country will not wait,” said his spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
US presidential candidate Mike Pence sharply criticized the Republican group around Gaetz. He was “deeply disappointed that a handful of Republicans joined forces with Democrats in the House of Representatives” to overthrow the chairman. Chaos is never America’s friend, said the former vice president under Donald Trump at a security and foreign policy forum in Washington.
Newt Gingrich, himself chairman of the House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999, also criticized Gaetz. The 80-year-old Republican from the US state of Georgia wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Post: “Matt Gaetz is an anti-Republican who has actively harmed the conservative movement.” Gaetz should be expelled from the Republican faction in the House of Representatives. “House Republicans have far more important things to do than satisfy one member’s ego,” Gingrich wrote.
Has anything like this happened before?
No, it is the first time in US history that a chairman of the House of Representatives has lost his job in this way. The last and only time there was a vote on his removal was 113 years ago. The Republican Joseph Cannon remained in office in 1910 after he sought confrontation with his critics and scheduled the vote on his recall himself.
McCarthy himself had sworn to Cannon’s political survival and called for a vote on Tuesday.