Matt Gaetz (R-FL) managed to fire Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House of Representatives a few days ago. The Florida congressman did not forgive McCarthy for having avoided the government shutdown, so he convinced seven Republicans to vote in favor of removing him. The satisfaction was such that he assured that if having led the dismissal of McCarthy resulted in him losing his seat in Congress, then it would be worth it.
McCarthy became the first House Speaker to be removed in US history. The final vote ended with 216 votes in favor and 210 against, with these eight Republicans voting with the majority: Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Ken Buck (R-CO), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Eli Crane ( R-AZ), Bob Good (R-VA), Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Matt Rosendale (R-MT), who of course were joined by Gaetz.
.@SpeakerMcCarthy was removed because he made multiple contradictory promises that ultimately could not be reconciled.
That led to us making a decision to move forward with someone new.
Fortunately, we have two great men running for Speaker: @Jim_Jordan and @SteveScalise! pic.twitter.com/28ipfHBrqQ
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) October 8, 2023
The Florida congressman spoke about his actions in an interview with NBC's Kristen Walker, in which he assured that he would not mind losing his seat in Congress for having removed the now-former speaker of the House. The conversation came after some Republican legislators mentioned that possibility. When asked directly by Walker whether all the efforts to remove McCarthy would be worth it if it cost him his place in Congress, Gaetz responded "absolutely."
In addition, he discussed the two main competitors for the speaker position, Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan, who received major endorsements such as Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. “Not only do we have one clear replacement, we have two. We have two men who are incredibly respected,” he said.
The House is expected to vote this week to elect the new Speaker of the House, although this process could take a little longer if there is no consensus among Republicans. For example, McCarthy won the position after 15 rounds of voting.
