There are many terms that can be used to describe the results of the October 3 motion to vacate the chair by the U.S. House of Representatives that removed then Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. It is undoubtedly unprecedented, in fact, it is historic! It is the first time in history that the House Speaker has been removed in this manner. Comments called into C-Span from viewers described the move as foolish, grandstanding and a clown show.
As a former House Republican Congressman, I would describe it as treacherous — akin to "impeachment light." It is more than ironic that for all of the Republicans' impeachment talk, it was not President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, or Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas who got impeached; it was eight Republicans who chose to move implacably forward with the short-sighted own goal of throwing their own leader out.
What actually happened? The vote to vacate the chair was brought forward and approved by the House by a vote of 216 yeas to 210 nays. Every Democrat voted for the motion to vacate, joined by just eight Republicans, while 210 Republicans voted against it.
In effect, based on the whims of eight Republicans, joined by all voting House Democrats, the highest-ranking Republican leader in the U.S. government was removed. These eight Republicans forgot that politics is a team sport, and voters across the country had come together in November 2022 to entrust Republicans to govern and control the House of Representatives. The Republican Conference then selected Rep. Kevin McCarthy to be its candidate for Speaker, and after a whopping 15 separate votes in January 2023, he was finally elected as Speaker.
Now, after only nine months in office, these eight Republican members of the House made the choice to align themselves with the Democrats.
Did they bring their grievances to other Republicans in the Conference and demand an internal vote on whether the Conference still supported the Speaker? No, they went directly to the floor of the House to air their grievances and demanded and successfully passed the motion that ousted the Speaker.
Some call the eight brave and heroic. They are anything but. Their average winning percentage in the 2022 election was a collective 59 percent. It is highly unlikely that any one of them will face serious electoral consequences for their treacherous actions. Reps. Matt Gaetz and Matt Rosendale actually may see their votes help propel them to other elected offices, including governor or the U.S. Senate. One could even make the argument that some of the eight cast votes for personal gain by raising their public profiles. After all, it is often said by Republicans in Washington that the fastest way to get on television is to attack other Republicans.
While it seems like ancient history now, House Republicans have faced these types of internal fractures before. In November 1998, Newt Gingrich resigned as Speaker of the House. This followed disappointing results in the November elections that saw House Republicans losing seats when it was expected Republicans would gain seats. Rather than a ragtag group going to the floor and making a motion to vacate the chair, all the internal GOP dynamics played out behind closed doors. This is exactly what should have happened on October 3, 2023. Be successful in conference or go home.
Seeing all the divisions amongst the House GOP, Gingrich voluntarily resigned his position as Speaker for the good of the Conference. The Conference then moved through the internal mechanics to select a new leader. I was there, and it was painful. Gingrich had led a diverse Republican Conference. In 1994, he led the GOP Conference to its first majority in 40 years based on the Contract with America. In governing and leading the House, Gingrich had provided the leadership that resulted in four consecutive balanced budgets, tax cuts and a historic reform of entitlement programs. He would be the first to credit the Republican Conference for the success we achieved, but we all know his leadership was instrumental.
Gingrich's leadership and focus was always on us being a team. We succeeded or failed as a team — not individually. The eight who acted and voted to take down McCarthy this month established a new precedent for the House Republican Conference that any single or personal grievance is enough to turn your back on the Conference and go solo or rogue.
This is already playing out. One member already has publicly stated that she will vote only for a new Speaker who is committed to the impeachment of Biden. Does that put her at odds with Rep. Ken Buck, who voted to get rid of McCarthy and opposes the impeachment inquiry? Buck will be the only person able to say to this other member, I respect your viewpoint and understand that if the nominee for Speaker doesn't support impeachment, they will have my vote but not yours. Heaven help this Republican Conference electing a new Speaker if this self-centered mentality takes hold.
We all have to be concerned about where the Republican Conference is at this point. Collectively they have demonstrated an inability to govern the House of Representatives. They have focused on the deficiencies as they see it among their Republican colleagues rather than the multitude of challenges facing the nation under Biden's leadership, including the southern border, crime, the budget deficit and national debt, and the threat from adversaries such as China, Russia North Korea and Iran, among many other pressing issues.
Where this all ends, few seem to know. The GOP will meet this week to select a new candidate for Speaker, though at this point, it is not clear who can get the magic number of 218 votes to take the gavel. Even more unclear is how that person succeeds in the top spot given that only a handful of Republicans working in concert with Democrats — who are the primary beneficiaries of all the GOP chaos — can take them out over minor disagreements. It really is something that the first successful "impeachment" in this Congress was caused by a very small group of Republicans voting with Democrats to effectively remove from office the Republican Speaker of the House.
Peter Hoekstra is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute. He was US Ambassador to the Netherlands during the Trump administration. He also served 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the Second District of Michigan and served as Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee.