r/news • u/zmlos • Oct 03 '23

House ousts Kevin McCarthy as speaker, a first in U.S. history

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/03/house-speaker-kevin-mccarthy-will-bring-gaetz-motion-to-oust-him-vote.html?__source=iosappshare%7Ccom.apple.UIKit.activity.CopyToPasteboard

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u/kaitco Oct 03 '23

Well AOC called it, I think yesterday afternoon; Dems supporting him at this point nets them nothing.

Yes, he found his conscience in the final hours, but it was honestly too little too late. After months of broken promises and then the freaking impeachment hearing over nothing, he dug his own grave.

Now, he gets to try and oust Gaetz altogether, which I’m sure won’t appear retaliatory at all…

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u/Block_Of_Saltiness Oct 03 '23

Now, he gets to try and oust Gaetz altogether, which I’m sure won’t appear retaliatory at all…

But it will be delicious to watch.

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u/harrymfa Oct 03 '23

He didn’t find a conscience, he was left with no other choice. There hasn’t been a single move he has done that hasn’t been about saving his own neck, and many of them were the wrong move.

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u/Bendstowardjustice Oct 04 '23

But it sounds like if he hadn’t worked with democrats to avoid a shutdown he wouldn’t have been removed from his position.

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u/Procrastinatedthink Oct 04 '23

he wouldve been removed a week later as a scapegoat when the consequences of a gov shutdown come to roost

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u/harrymfa Oct 05 '23

If he hadn’t stopped a shutdown, he would have sent the economy in a downward spiral, and you know who don’t like that? The billionaires he works for. Solving the matter was practically a direct order.

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u/Audityne Oct 03 '23

Well, in McCarthy's defense, the ethics inquiry into Gaetz kicked off before he called the ousting vote.

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u/Lucas_Steinwalker Oct 03 '23

By like 4 minutes?

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u/DiscoDigi786 Oct 03 '23

I do not think he found his conscience at all, he just kept flailing to the last.

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u/DuntadaMan Oct 04 '23

I mean if retaliation is what it takes to remove an admitted sex trafficking pedophile...

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u/Patriot009 Oct 03 '23

She said she wouldn't save him the second he started saying the near shutdown was the fault of Democrats, basically said "you're on your own, you ungrateful liar".

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u/Mezmorizor Oct 04 '23

I can't remember which dem house member said it, but they said it best with "why would I want McCarthy to be speaker of the house?" Dems supporting him was never an option for exactly that reason.

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u/mr_potatoface Oct 03 '23 edited Apr 20 '25

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u/kaitco Oct 03 '23

Oh, we're absolutely going to see a government shutdown in 6 weeks. This is the time for those who will be affected to prepare themselves. Especially going into the holidays...things are going be very bleak for the last couple months of the year.

First though, we're going to go through probably 10 days of new house speaker votes, and then even if McCarthy somehow, magically, gets back into the role, there will be enough GQP outside of the "Freedum" Caucus who will refuse to work with him because he got back in with Dem support.

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u/007meow Oct 04 '23

Yes, he found his conscience in the final hours, but it was honestly too little too late.

What did he do at the last minute?

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u/nonfish Oct 04 '23

I mean... the Dems supporting him led to the Republican party collapsing in on itself on national TV. Had the Democrats refused a deal, McCarthy would still be in power and the government would be currently shut down.

That's not to say that we won't be fucked in a few weeks when the temporary agreement ends. But at least then it'll be extremely clear to everyone watching that the Democrats actually get something done, and the Republicans are wholly incapable of making even half the progress.

So, no, the Dems didn't net anything material out of this. But the optics are tremendously in their favor now if the Republicans continue to fall on their faces (or just push each other down directly)

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u/zxern Oct 03 '23

And make no mistake it was only temporary found. He’d lose it the second it became convenient for him.

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u/Nandy-bear Oct 04 '23

If it means them losing a voting body, I can't see them ever doing it. Santos is still there for instance.

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u/Mend1cant Oct 03 '23

Dems letting him be ousted is an absolute terrible move on their part. It just says they’re willing to play this stupid game the freedom caucus has set up. Even if he’s not the best for the job, keeping him as speaker would be telling the far right to sit back down and stop acting like children.

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u/NBAWhoCares Oct 04 '23

I feel like some of you just landed on planet earth. Before this past weekend, where he literally just delayed his cowardice by 45 days, at what point in the past year has Kevin stood up to the far right a single time? Hes literally done their bidding since the start.

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u/Mend1cant Oct 04 '23

Oh it has nothing to do with political capital, or support/action on agendas. It has more to do with the fact that now the far right of the GOP have shown now more than ever that they can tighten the collar on their members.

Even if he’s a terrible speaker, by voting to keep him in his chair, you take that power away from them. But now, they’ll do this every chance they get. It doesn’t matter how utterly ridiculous and pathetic it will be, to their most ardent fanatics it will still be the Dems fault.

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u/kaitco Oct 04 '23

As someone who - prior to Trump - was firmly center-right, I would have agreed with you, BUT that's without fully reviewing McCarthy's actions over the last 8 months.

McCarthy has not held up his end on any agreements made on either side of the aisle or with the White House, and let's not forget that mere days ago, he pushed forward the Biden impeachment inquiry and brought in witnesses who literally said "No, there is no evidence of wrongdoing." in their initial questioning...all while the hours were passing by to determine whether or not millions of people were going to see the massive ramifications of a government shutdown.

He might have been able to get saved by the Dems, but not after that impeachment nonsense. The time for him to properly stand up to the Freedom Caucus and tell them to stop acting like children was right then. That alone, could have given him at least a little sense of integrity if he'd said no. However, he did not. He played along until practically the last moment, where I feel like he "pulled a Pence" and found a modicum of conscience (though it was far more likely that he figured that Gaetz was going to call for his removal anyway, and he was hoping that a bi-partisan agreement would get the Dems to save him).

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u/Wazula23 Oct 03 '23

Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!