No Democrats threw a life preserver to now-former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Tuesday after his own Republican Party's right flank moved to oust him.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, a far-right rival of McCarthy, made good on a longstanding threat to bring a "motion to vacate" to the table.
Under a rule change to which McCarthy agreed as a condition for support in a narrowly-divided Congress that took 15 rounds of voting to elect him speaker, a single member was able to call for a vote to remove him.
Gaetz, who vehemently opposed a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown Saturday, called for such a vote after McCarthy's last-minute bill, which passed with Democratic support.
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He and seven other Republicans, along with every Democrat, voted Tuesday to remove the speaker.
Democrats representing New England in Congress pointed to dysfunction within the GOP while also criticizing McCarthy's record.
Politics
"I voted to remove the Speaker because he can't be trusted," Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts said in a social media post. "This is what happens when you sell your soul to the most extreme members of your caucus."
Moulton later told NBC10 Boston it was "a sad day for the House of Representatives" and for the U.S. as a whole.
"We're witnessing a Republican civil war — a Republican civil war that has consumed the House, and we have to make sure it does not consume the country," he said. "Chaos in American government is never good."
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts called Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries "the only person in command of this chamber" and urged fellow Democrats to vote for him as speaker.
"Through his duplicitous misuse of power, profound disregard for the needs of the American people, and disloyalty to anyone but himself, Kevin McCarthy has proven unworthy of presiding over the House," Clark said in a statement. "But the Republican civil war is bigger than one man. Right-wing MAGA extremism has enveloped the Republican Party and taken over the business of the People's House."
Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine pointed directly at McCarthy's willingness to let a single member call a vote to remove the speaker.
"Unlike the Senate, our founders structured the House of Representatives to decide matters by a simple majority. But Kevin McCarthy was so desperate to grasp the gavel that he sold out our institution, allowing just one person to bring the People's House to a grinding halt. Willfully upending our Democratic norms to seize power has turned this great populist chamber into a place where a single tyrant can rule."
"From day one, Kevin McCarthy has put his ambition ahead of the American people and his job before the institution," added Rep. Lori Trahan of Massachusetts. "Hardworking families deserve better."
"This is a solemn day for the House of Representatives," Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said in a statement. "Instead of working on legislation that helps Americans deal with rising costs, raises wages, or protects vital programs like Social Security and Medicare, our chamber has once again been paralyzed by House Republican extremism."
