On Tuesday, Oct. 3rd, 2023, it was announced that the United States House of Representatives voted “216 to 210 to remove California Republican Kevin McCarthy from his position as House speaker, coming days after he reached an 11th-hour deal to avert a government shutdown with the help of House Democrats.” This represents a historic moment in United States history.
CBS News, one of many news outlets covering the recent removal, spoke to the surprise of this recent announcement. CBS spoke about why this removal occurred and what we know now about what will happen until a successor is nominated.
“The ouster came after Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz acted Monday night to force a vote on a motion to vacate the office of the speaker, following through on a threat he made last week to take the gavel from the California Republican while the threat of a shutdown loomed. While other speakers throughout history have stepped down after losing the support of their party, McCarthy is the first to be ousted through a vote of the full House in the middle of a congressional term. The rules of the 118th Congress state that ‘in the case of a vacancy in the office of speaker,’ the next member named on a list submitted by McCarthy to the clerk of the House in January will become speaker pro tempore until a speaker is elected. A House reading clerk announced immediately after the vote that Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina was the first name on McCarthy's list and, therefore, was appointed speaker pro tempore,” CBS news reporter Melissa Quinn said.
Multiple DePauw students have voiced their opinions on the removal, and DePauw seniors Will Hare and Harry Burgan spoke to their shock about the announcement.
“It’s an unprecedented move in an unprecedented time. It speaks for itself: we have a Republican Party so far to the right that they’d be willing to go leaderless to stick to their ideology. Crazy,” Burgan said.
“There was going to be a time that the Speaker of the House in general was going to be removed and history was going to be made at some point. While I personally will not say my own personal feelings on who was right, I think that this should be a time to reflect on ourselves as a nation. The irony of it all is that something was passed in bipartisanship in a partisan manner. This is a crux point for all Americans that should show how our own interests on both sides ruin the interests of the nation. But, moreover, I think we should reflect on why this happened in the first place–because of a government that fulfills her own interests rather than the national interest. Whichever side you are on, you will always be right, but I think what we should focus on is how we move on from this and unite as a nation to push the national interest, such as the economy, livelihoods, and overall morals of the nation,” Hare said.
Nevertheless, apart from the upheaval and coverage of the removal or the various opinions the DePauw student body and Americans will have, it is safe to say that this is a historic moment for our nation.