The brief, chaotic tenure of Speaker Kevin McCarthy
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 4 October 2023
⏱️ 26 minutes
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Summary
The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to remove Kevin MCarthy as speaker after just nine months on the job. Today, how things got so bad between McCarthy and the GOP’s far-right wing, and what his historic ouster means for Congress.
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On Tuesday, eight House Republicans joined Democrats in an unprecedented vote to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. McCarthy lost his job despite having the support of most Republican lawmakers. With the government potentially running out of money in a little more than a month, House Republicans are scrambling to present a suitable nominee for speaker.
Washington Post Live’s Leigh Ann Caldwell explains how the relationship between McCarthy and far-right Republicans deteriorated, and what comes next for the House as it braces for another possible shutdown.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Lingen, I saw this meme and maybe you're familiar with it. |
| 0:06.8 | It's about like having a toxic relationship and it's that the red flag on your first |
| 0:12.4 | date today will be the cause of your breakup tomorrow. |
| 0:17.3 | And does that sort of feel like the relationship between Kevin McCarthy and the House Freedom |
| 0:22.2 | Caucus? |
| 0:23.2 | Oh my gosh, that's really funny. |
| 0:26.3 | Yeah, it's the partner who always wants their other partner to change. |
| 0:32.3 | And it's never good enough, no matter what they do. |
| 0:35.6 | And so ultimately that is what happened to Kevin McCarthy. |
| 0:39.0 | He tried to be the right person for them and it just was never enough. |
| 0:47.6 | House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted Tuesday after just nine months on the job. |
| 0:53.3 | The A's are 216. |
| 0:56.0 | The A's are 210. |
| 0:58.9 | The resolution is adopted without objection. |
| 1:01.9 | The motion to reconsider is laid on the table, the office of Speaker of the House of |
| 1:08.0 | the United States House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant. |
| 1:14.6 | This is the first time ever that the House of Representatives has voted to remove its |
| 1:19.6 | leader. |
| 1:20.6 | We use the term unprecedented all the time in this Trump era of politics, but this is actually |
| 1:28.7 | unprecedented. |
| 1:31.0 | That's Washington Post reporter Leanne Caldwell, who's been covering Congress for years. |
| 1:36.5 | This has never been done in the history of the House of Representatives more than 200 |
... |
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