US House Speaker Faces Historic First Removal... "Unprecedented Situation" (Update)

"The position of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant." The Speaker of the House, who is third in the U.S. presidential line of succession, has been removed from office for the first time in history.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

On the 3rd (local time), the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, with 216 votes in favor and 210 against during a full session. This is the first time in the history of the U.S. Congress that a resolution to remove the Speaker has been passed. A total of eight members of the Republican majority party voted in favor of his removal.

As a result, Speaker McCarthy, who was elected after a staggering 15 rounds of voting in January, will end his 269-day term. This comes just days after passing a bipartisan temporary budget to avoid a federal government shutdown. Matt Gaetz, a hardline Republican representative, submitted the resolution to remove Speaker McCarthy on the 30th of last month in protest against the temporary budget.

With the Speaker being removed for the first time in history, it is inevitable that House operations will be paralyzed for the time being. The next shutdown crisis is approaching next month, and an election for a new Speaker must be held. The New York Times (NYT) described the situation as "unprecedented" and reported that "the House is in chaos." CNN reported, "The House now must elect a new Speaker, but there is no clear alternative who can secure the necessary support."

Republican Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina will serve as the interim Speaker until a new Speaker is elected. In the past, in 1910, a resolution to remove Speaker Joseph Cannon was also submitted, but it did not lead to removal.

Before the vote began that day, hardline Republicans criticized Speaker McCarthy, creating a Republican-versus-Republican dynamic. The hardliners argued that Speaker McCarthy failed to block the Biden administration's massive fiscal spending and lacked leadership. Democratic representatives remained relatively silent. The Democrats held a closed-door caucus that morning and decided to support the resolution to remove the Speaker as the party line.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.