By: Cooper Winkler '26
Throughout the past few months, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California has been through many trials on his quest to become Speaker of the House. He was elected as Speaker of the House on January 7th 2023, after Democrats lost control of the House during the midterm elections. Now, nearly nine months later, Kevin McCarthy has
been ousted as Speaker of the House and has temporarily left the position to Patrick McHenry while the House struggles to find his successor. Why has Kevin McCarthy had such a difficult time gaining control of the House, and who will succeed him as Speaker of the House?
In January, the House of Representatives was at a stalemate when attempting to elect the Speaker of the House. McCarthy was elected on the 15th ballot -- making this the longest election for Speaker of the House in 164 years. McCarthy had to make several concessions when persuading conservatives to vote for him -- one of which greatly impacted his recent ousting.
On October 5th 2023, Kevin McCarthy was removed as Speaker of the House in a 216 to 210 vote. This came only days after McCarthy made a deal with House Democrats to prevent a government shutdown. 208 Democrats and eight Republicans voted against McCarthy. While the vote could not have been accomplished without Democrats, it was Republican Matt Gaetz who orchestrated it. During the election of the Speaker of the House, Matt Gaetz was one of the Republicans who refused to vote for McCarthy, and it appears these sentiments have not lessened. Gaetz used the newly changed “motion to vacate” which, due to the concessions McCarthy had previously made, allowed a single lawmaker to file said motion. Now, the house is left scrambling as they attempt to elect a new Speaker of the House.
There have been several Republicans who have announced their candidacy for Speaker of the House, including Jim Jordan. Jim Jordan is a Representative from Ohio who has been endorsed by Donald Trump. Republicans nominated Jordan on October 13th. However, as of October 22nd, he has dropped out of the race due to a lack of support. Another Republican, Austin Scott, had also entered the race for Speaker. However, when it came to the nomination, the Georgian Representative
was beaten by Jim Jordan. On October 12th, just one day before Jordan’s nomination, Steve Scalise dropped out of the race. When describing why Scalise dropped out of the race, NPR’s Deirdre Walsh says that Scalise could not get the amount of votes needed to be elected. This brings up the question: will anyone be able to garner enough votes, or will the House return to the stalemate they faced last January?
As a publication update, the house has voted for and inducted Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, as the current Speaker.
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Edited by: Ava Paolino '25, Katarina Radulovic '24, and Ms. Brilliant.
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