The U.S. House voted Tuesday to boot California Republican Kevin McCarthy from his role as House speaker, marking the first time in history that had been done.
The effort was led by U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who garnered enough Republicans to join forces with all House Democrats to oust McCarthy.
McCarthy had served in the leadership role for less than nine months, one of the shortest speakerships in history.
The vote brought chaos back to the chamber just days after the House narrowly avoided a federal shutdown, and could likely bring more contention in the weeks ahead.
New speaker election
Following McCarthy’s ouster, a new speaker vote will be held.
Republicans first must decide who to nominate, and then the full House will vote on that nomination with support from a majority of the members present required. If a majority is not reached, then votes will be held again and again until a majority supports the nominee.
When McCarthy was selected, it took an unprecedented 15 rounds for him to receive a majority. With Democrats likely to align behind their nominee, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, an arduous process could occur since Republicans are signaling little desire to get behind one candidate.
McCarthy told reporters that he will not run for speaker again. So far, three Republicans have declared candidacies: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma.
Reschenthaler eyes bigger leadership role
The reshuffling could lead to a promotion for one Western Pennsylvania Republican.
U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, has made calls about a potential candidacy for the majority whip position in the Republican caucus, according to Politico. His interest hinges on whether Scalise is elected speaker, as current majority whip Tom Emmer, R-Texas, is interested in replacing Scalise as Majority Leader.
Reschenthaler now serves as Emmer’s deputy whip, and if he were to win the majority whip position, it would represent a meteoric rise for the former JAG officer. Majority whip is the third-highest ranking member in the Republican caucus, and Reschenthaler could command that role less than decade after entering politics.
He first entered elected office in 2015 after winning a special election to a suburban Pittsburgh state Senate seat. Reschenthaler was then elected to Congress in Pennsylvania’s 14th District, which covers Fayette, Greene and Washington counties, as well as parts of Indiana, Somerset and Westmoreland counties.
Deluzio weighs in
Congressional Democrats voted in unison to oust McCarthy, including votes from U.S. Reps. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, and Summer Lee, D-Swissvale.
Deluzio said in the aftermath of McCarthy’s exit that he hopes a bipartisan coalition will form to elect a speaker that can garner support from Democrats and Republicans.
“Sensible Republicans should join with House Democrats so we can get back to governing,” he said Wednesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
After the Republican revolt and vote to oust the Speaker of the House, many here in Western PA are wondering how we get out of this GOP chaos.
The path forward is clear: sensible Republicans should join with House Democrats so we can get back to governing. pic.twitter.com/VU2g4KmGLd
— Congressman Chris Deluzio (@RepDeluzio) October 4, 2023
Economic Impact
Averting a federal shutdown didn’t protect the nation from possible financial insecurity. Thanks to the vote to vacate McCarthy, three major credit rating firms — Moody’s Investors Service, S&P Global and Fitch Ratings — have signaled that dysfunction in Congress could lead to downgrading the nation’s credit ratings.
Last week, Moody’s warned that a government shutdown and ensuing tumult would likely hurt the economy.
“In particular, it would demonstrate the significant constraints that intensifying political polarization put on fiscal policymaking at a time of declining fiscal strength, driven by widening fiscal deficits and deteriorating debt affordability,” the Moody’s letter said.
Stock markets were already having a chaotic day before the McCarthy vote. CNN reported that if those downward trends continue it could possibly raise the possibility of a recession.
Shutdown impending?
It’s unclear how long the House will take to elect a new speaker, but the clock is ticking.
On Sept. 30, Congress passed bills that will provide stopgap funding for the federal government for 45 days. That gives the House until mid-November to provide more funding or the federal government will shutdown.
A long speaker vote could cut into negotiating time for a new funding bill, already one of the most contentious negotiations in Congress.
