In January, Kevin McCarthy struck a deal to become speaker of the House of Representatives, in exchange for any member of Congress having the power to file a vacancy motion.
This Tuesday, Republican Matt Gaetz he did exactly that. He managed to oust McCarthy from office with the help of Democrats.
Now most Republicans are clutching their heads and wondering what their next step will be.
All but a handful of them voted to keep McCarthy in office. It only took a few rebels to wreak havoc in the lower house.
Lost work
For months, McCarthy had worked to keep his right flank in check.
He had agreed to open an investigation for an impeachment trial against President Joe Biden.
He had backed away from a spending deal he reached with Democrats earlier in the year to raise the debt limit.
He had also let conservatives attach right-wing provisions to spending bills and other legislation.
But all those efforts were in vain.
When McCarthy relied on Democratic support to temporarily keep the federal government funded, the die was cast.
McCarthy could have tried to regain power by cajoling or coercing the Republicans who brought him down this week to change their minds, as he did in January.
But he apparently had few options left and this Tuesday night he indicated that he would not run again to lead the lower house.
That position, which he sought for much of his political career, ended up being a poisoned chalice.
After the impeachment vote was over and his Republican colleagues came over to shake his hand and give him hugs, McCarthy almost looked relieved.
The truth is No matter which Republican replaces him, divisions within the party will remain and the challenges to effectively manage the lower house will remain the same.
This is because, while the moment was historic (the first president removed by a House vote), it was also the culmination of an intra-republican struggle between the establishment party politics and its seething base, which has been brewing at least since the Tea Party movement of 2010.
It is a struggle between pragmatism and purity, between changing the system or working within it.
One Man Show
McCarthy became speaker of the House in January thanks to a handful of Republican rebels finally joining the rest of the party in supporting him.
It was those last dissidents who brought down the California congressman this Tuesday.
Although Matt Gaetz, who introduced the impeachment proposal, had allies who supported his “motion to leave the presidency,” what was seen was a one-man show.
As McCarthy’s Republican defenders took turns standing for an hour of debate before the final vote, it was Gaetz, standing on the Democratic side of the House but speaking with his fellow Republicans, who took the most time to lay out the case against the then president.
What became clear was that Both sides of the House Republican divide think Washington is broken..
For Gaetz, most of the blame lies with the process by which federal spending is approved. He criticized how Congress passes huge spending bills for different parts of the federal government, which are often negotiated behind closed doors and then voted on in one big package.
Criticizing McCarthy for making concessions to Democrats – who control the Senate and the White House – during negotiations over the budget and the debt limit, he said that if his party did not take a harder line, nothing in Washington would ever change.
McCarthy’s defenders, on the other hand, said that compromise was part of the process and that he had succeeded in advancing the conservative agenda..
Rep. Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota also took direct aim at politicians like Gaetz, whom he accused of putting grandstanding and fundraising over governance.
“The incentive structure in this city is completely broken,” he said. “We have descended into a place where clicks, TV hits, and the endless pursuit of the most mediocre celebrity taste drive decisions and encourage youthful behavior.”
Uncertain future
At the moment, the Lower House is a broken institution: without a president and without a clear path to replace him.
With a loud bang of the gavel, the expulsion process ended on Tuesday afternoon. Republicans, looking shocked, retreated behind closed doors to decide what to do next. Meanwhile, Democrats laughed and chatted, apparently believing that this chaos will only redound to their political benefit.
The truth is that they are unexplored waters. And with the clock ticking toward the government shutdown in mid-November, the waters could get very turbulent.
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