American lawmaker Kevin McCarthy has been ousted as the United States House of Representatives speaker following an unprecedented move orchestrated by the hard right of his own Republican Party.
Republican Representative Matt Gaetz had mulled impeachment proceedings against Mr McCarthy after his last week’s late short-deal with President Joe Biden to fund the government till November 17 to avoid a government shutdown.
The ousting of Mr McCarthy from the speakership was finally achieved on Tuesday as the House voted 216 to 210, with opposition Democrat lawmakers joining the group of small hardliners of the Republican Party.
Some of the Republican Party have been against the California politician since he was elected in January.
Democrat lawmakers were silent throughout proceedings on the House floor as Republicans went head-to-head with Republicans — they had debated helping Mr McCarthy remain a speaker or stay clear of the effort to remove him.
But they eventually decided not to do so after a directive by Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, following a closed-door meeting. Impeachment proceedings in this manner had not happened in the modern history of the United States.
It is only the second time since 1910 when Republicans tried to remove then-Conservative Speaker Joseph Cannon for refusing to bring their priorities to the floor for a vote, which he eventually survived.
The House of Representatives will be without a leader until a new speaker is chosen, which will paralyse the House’s activities for now.
