We’re ending our live coverage for the day and will be closing this blog shortly.
Here is a brief recap of where things stand:
On Tuesday afternoon Kevin McCarthy became the first speaker of the House in US history to be removed from the position. Far-right Republicans voted with Democrats voted to vacate the speaker, who served a tumultuous nine months in the role.
The removal was a victory for Matt Gaetz, a hard-right Republican who has had it out for McCarthy from the start. Gaetz introduced a motion to vacate the speaker after he worked with House Democrats to pass a stopgap spending bill, known as a continuing resolution, to extend government funding through 17 November.
McCarthy confirmed to reporters that he wouldn’t run for speaker again, leaving it unclear who will replace him. Republicans intend to scrounge up candidates on Tuesday, and vote for a new speaker next Wednesday.
North Carolina Republican Patrick McHenry has now taken over as House speaker pro tempore, or “for the time being.” McHenry is the chair of the financial services committee, and voted against removing McCarthy. The House will be out for the next week, and it remains unclear who would have the support to become the next speaker. Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican who was once reported to have called himself “David Duke without the baggage”, is one possibility.
You can read my colleague Joan E Greve’s full story on McCarthy being removed as US House speaker at the link below:
Updated
Who is Patrick Timothy McHenry?
Immediately following Tuesday’s 216-210 ouster vote, the North Carolina Republican representative Patrick McHenry, a McCarthy ally, was appointed acting speaker for a very limited time – up to three legislative days in this case.
So who is McHenry?
The New York Times describes him as a one-time “rabble-rousing presence on the House floor and on cable news shows” who now “has a reputation among other lawmakers for brainy wonkishness”.
The profile continues:
“Among the potential candidates to succeed Mr McCarthy, Mr McHenry is the only one who voted to certify the 2020 presidential election. On Saturday, he voted with Democrats for the stopgap spending measure to keep the government open.
“Mr McHenry, though, seems unlikely to take on the role permanently. He chose not to run for a leadership role last year, deciding to lead the financial services committee instead.”
According to Politico, McHenry “rose through the House GOP by bashing the government’s economic rescue plans in the wake of the global financial crisis”, but has gone from what one commentator quoted by Politico described as, “the GOP’s attack dog-in-training” and another as, “extremely right-wing” to being “methodical” and a “peacemaker”.
He “defended McCarthy’s role asspeaker on Tuesday evening, urging his Republican colleagues to reconsider voting to vacate the speaker,” the Hill reports, with McHenry saying:
“Why would we give up a conservative working majority for better outcomes and hand the keys over to the Democrats?”
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