In an unprecedented development in the history of the US Congress, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, was removed from his office on Tuesday, becoming a victim of the fratricidal conflicts in his faction. After a debate punctuated by fierce clashes among US right-wing leaders in the semi-circle, 216 members of the body voted to oust him, including eight Republicansagainst 210 which opposed.
Even after the – historic – result was announced, Kevin McCarthy remained smiling, surrounded by members of his party, who praised him and shook his hand.
The result of the vote opens a period of upheaval in the lower US House, where his replacement will have to be elected, a case that is announced to be particularly complicated.
The development followed the submission by a member of the American hard-right, Matt Gage, of a motion of censure for the removal of the “speaker” from his office, even though they belong to the same party.
Mr. Gage, who is running for office in Florida, blamed Kevin McCarthy for negotiating a temporary federal budget with Democrats that many conservatives opposed, and for striking a “secret deal” with President Joe Biden. to finance US military aid to Ukraine.
The right wing of the Republican party opposes the disbursement of further funds to Kiev, saying that this money should be used to deal with the migrant crisis at the border USA-Mexico, according to international agencies and the Athens News Agency.
It didn’t matter at all that a huge majority of Kevin McCarthy’s caucus publicly supported him: the Trumps have a de facto veto in the House, given the slim Republican majority in that body of the US national delegation.
No support from the Democrats
Mr. McCarthy for a time seemed to be counting on saving his head, hoping that political calculations would prevail and that Democrats would offer him support, even marginal, in exchange for concessions.
Nothing of the sort happened.
“It’s up to the Republican party to end the Republican civil war in the House,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said after a lengthy caucus meeting Tuesday.
“The reasons to let the Republicans handle their own problems are countless. Let’s let them wallow in the mire of their incompetence and their inability to govern,” blasted progressive MP Pramila Jayapal mercilessly.
Attesting to the division in the GOP, Republican lawmakers took turns on the floor to defend or blast Kevin McCarthy.
“We are on the edge of the cliff. There are only a few minutes left to come to our senses and avoid this very serious danger”, stressed Republican Congressman Tom McClintock before the vote.
If the impeachment motion passes, he warned, the House “will be paralyzed,” Democrats will “gloat over Republican dysfunction” and “citizens will be disgusted, and for good reason,” he added.
His colleague Tom Cole warned against the “chaos” he predicted the body and the Republicans would be plunged into if the motion of censure passed.
“The mess is Speaker (of the House) McCarthy,” countered Matt Gage. “Chaos is someone no one can trust,” he hammered.
He will not run for office again
McCarthy later confirmed to reporters that he would not seek re-election. “I fought for what I believed in,” said Mr McCarthy. “I think I can continue the fight, but maybe in a different way,” added the baron of the American right.
The White House announced that Democratic President Joe Biden wants to elect a new chairman of the body “quickly”. The person who holds this position is second in line to succeed the president, after the vice president, should the need arise.
The intra-party conflict that turned into a central topic of American political current affairs provoked the reaction of the Republican former president Donald Trump.
“Why do Republicans always fight each other and not the radical left Democrats who are destroying our country?” he asked via his personal creation Truth Social platform.
Such a vote had been held for more than a century in the US, since 1910• and a speaker of the House of Representatives had never been removed from office.
Source: News Beast

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