A historical event happened on Tuesday, October 3, when Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy was ousted. The vote was issued by republican Matt Gaetz who has disagreed with McCarthy’s stands in the past, as have many people in the political field. Some of McCarthy’s controversial decisions have been, sending U.S resources to Ukraine, spending cuts, and his take on border security. The vote that Gaetz and other of his allies such as, Rep. Andy Biggs and Ken Buck orchestrated, ended with an outcome of 216-210.

 McCarthy has reinstated that he will no longer be running for Speaker of the House again. Since then, there has been a flurry of candidates that have rushed to replace him. As stated in the rules of the 118th congress, “in the case of vacancy in the office of Speaker, the next member on the list described as subdivision (B) shall act as speaker pro tempore until the election of a Speaker or a Speaker pro tempore.” Some of the candidates who have decided to run for speaker include, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Rep. Tom Emmer, Rep. Kevin Hern, Rep. Tom Cole, and Rep. Patrick Henry. Many people have speculated that the former president Donald J Trump will attempt to run for speaker. However, the presidential candidate has dismissed these rumors and has said that his main focus is still running for president, but that he will do what he can to support the Republican party. 

Kevin McCarthy has served one of the shortest terms as speaker of the house, his speakership only lasting around 9 months. The most unusual fact however, is that McCarthy is the first speaker to be removed in the entirety of United States history. There have been similar instances to this, like in 2015, when John Boehner was almost voted out. In the end, he decided to retire early instead of letting the votes against him be cast. The speaker that will succeed McCarthy has yet to be chosen, however the lineup of candidates seem promising to the Republican Party.