Speaker Kevin McCarthy Removed: What We’ve Learned

On Tuesday afternoon, after the clerk of the House of Representatives gaveled shut the vote to oust Kevin McCarthy and announced that “the office of speaker of the House of the United States House of Representative is hereby declared vacant,” a member on the Democratic side of the aisle loudly asked the question on everyone’s mind: “Now what?”

A simple majority of House members — eight Republicans plus all 208 Democrats present — had taken the historic step of booting a sitting speaker, and they had no idea who would replace him or what the consequences of their vote might be. But, in rapid succession, we did learn several things.

About the Author

John McCormack

John McCormack is a former Washington correspondent for National Review and was a fellow at the National Review Institute.

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On Tuesday afternoon, after the clerk of the House of Representatives gaveled shut the vote to oust Kevin McCarthy and announced that “the office of speaker of the House of the United States House of Representative is hereby declared vacant,” a member on the Democratic side of the aisle loudly asked the question on everyone’s mind: “Now what?”

A simple majority of House members — eight Republicans plus all 208 Democrats present — had taken the historic step of booting a sitting speaker, and they had no idea who would replace him or what the consequences of their vote might be. But, in rapid succession, we did learn several things.