Oct. 3, 2023, will go down in American history as the first time a Speaker of the House was expelled from Congress by his own peers. Kevin McCarthy, a man consumed of personal ambition and self-interest, was shown the door by his congressional colleagues.
Eight Republicans joined all Democrats in voting out McCarthy. The public witnessed Republican members of the House engage in an intraparty, meltdown.
McCarthy’s term was inaugurated with rabble-rousing and unsettling chaos, taking 15 rounds of balloting in order for his ratification as speaker to take effect. From that theatrical moment onward, his rocky tenure progressed from one conjured-up crisis to another – an unnecessary debt ceiling showdown, failed votes and pulled bills on the floor, name-calling in Republican caucus meetings.
On the other side of the aisle, McCarthy reassured Democrats fair and equitable treatment and a stake in governing while championing deeply partisan legislation they found unfathomable. He forgave former President Trump after previously denouncing him for the insurrection at the Capitol Jan. 6, 2021. He condescendingly spearheaded an impeachment inquiry into President Biden when he was being verbally attacked and threatened by far-right-wing members of his caucus. He ratified a spending deal with the White House before backing out.
More incredulously, he recently made the rounds on the Sunday talk show blaming Democrats as the reason the government almost shut down. Yes, the same Democrats whose votes helped McCarthy avert a shutdown. Bullied by far-right wingers, distrusted by Democrats, McCarthy found himself in a political no man’s land and thus talked himself out of his job.
Democrat refusal to become his defense culminated in a consistent pattern of what they viewed as untrustworthy behavior. Hitching his political wagon to the Trump train. Secretly sending a tape of the Capitol riots to right-wing media outlets to garner favor. Removing Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney from leadership over her principled opposition to the Freedom Caucus. Willingly ushering in, granting favor and unchecked power to extreme right-wing politicians such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar and others. Minimizing the Jan. 6 attack and reportedly undermining the congressional investigation into the insurrection.
McCarthy’s fall was of his own making. He granted the Freedom Caucus a (still undisclosed) set of concessions during his effort to become speaker back in January, and one of those concessions was to lower the threshold for a motion to vacate to just one member. Talk about desperate and spineless.
McCarthy knew that he would need some Democratic votes to keep the speakership. But he did not provide Democrats anything in return for such votes. That in particular, coupled with a host of other issues, sealed McCarthy’s futile destiny. Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, made it official by saying it was up to Republicans alone “to end the House Republican Civil War.”
Republican dysfunction and chaos aside, there are many pundits who argue that Democrats face their own potential dilemma. Was the feckless devil they knew a more secure bet than a future replacement they did not? Regardless, whoever succeeds McCarthy will likely be at political mercy and will of the far-right faction that expelled him — perhaps even more so.
Yet it was Democrats that ultimately decided McCarthy was not worth rescuing, with all 208 voting to remove him. Truth is, they probably made a very smart decision.
Copyright 2023 Elwood Watson, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Watson is a professor of history, Black studies, and gender and sexuality studies. He is also an author and public speaker.
