From Cafe and the Vox Media Podcast Network, this is Stay Tuned in Brief.

I'm Pete Barara.

Last Tuesday, Kevin McCarthy was ousted as the speaker of the House of Representatives

after fellow Republican Representative Matt Gates introduced a motion to vacate the

speakership.

This is a historic moment.

McCarthy is the first speaker to ever be removed in such a fashion, and his exit is highlighted

the intense fissures in the GOP and the larger tensions in Congress.

Joining me to discuss these issues is John F. Harris.

He is the co-founder and global editor-in-chief of Politico, and he's written extensively

about the dysfunctional McCarthy speakership in his Politico-altitude column.

John, welcome to the show.

Thanks so much, Pete.

So let's go back to when Kevin McCarthy became the speaker, and others have suggested

and you have also suggested that the seeds of his own destruction were sown at the time

he became speaker.

What do you mean by that?

Well, in order to win the speakership and recall that it took 15 votes, he had to trade

away a lot of the authority that the speakers traditionally have.

In the old days, that was a really, really powerful position, and I would say we have to tip

our head also to Nancy Pelosi, because even in this era of less-governable House, she

exerted quite a lot of authority through the strength of her personality.

...