U.S. speaker ousted
Republicans punished their colleague for getting Democrats’ support to pass a controversial budget bill
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Daily TribuneRepublicans punished their colleague for getting Democrats’ support to pass a controversial budget bill
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The United States House of Representatives was without a leader for the first time in its history on Tuesday.
Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy lost his job after eight hardline partymates loyal to former president Donald Trump and 200 Democrats voted to vacate his post, 216 to 210.
"The office of speaker of the House of the United States House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant," Republican Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas, who presided over a crowded, tense session of the lower chamber, said after the vote.
Florida representative Matt Gaetz introduced the motion to remove McCarthy saying nobody trusts him. No House speaker has ever before been ousted through the passage of a resolution to remove them, CNN reported.
The same hardliners had tried doggedly to block McCarthy from getting the job back in January, forcing him to go through 15 rounds of votes until he finally made enough concessions to appease them and win approval.
McCarthy will not run for speaker again and the race for his successor is already underway, according to CNN.
Rep. Patrick McHenry was named interim speaker until a new one is elected and he declared the chamber in recess after the raucous session.
