Here’s how SC representatives voted in historic effort to oust US House speaker
Two out of seven South Carolina Congressional representatives voted Tuesday to remove U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in a historic leadership ouster.
South Carolina Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn and Republican Rep. Nancy Mace voted to replace McCarthy, part of the 216-210 prevailing vote.
Mace was the lone South Carolina Republican to vote yes. The other five South Carolinians — Rep. Joe Wilson, Rep. Jeff Duncan, Rep. Russell Fry, Rep. Norman and Rep. William Timmons — voted to keep the speaker in his position.
No U.S. House speaker has ever been removed in this way, even though there have been similar attempts in history which were never successful.
Monday night, Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced a motion to remove McCarthy as speaker of the House. For weeks, hard-right Republicans have been adamant about removing McCarthy due to his agreement to work with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown. Ultimately, when McCarthy made a deal with Democrats to avert the shutdown and allot 45 more days of temporary government spending, Gaetz motioned to vacate, allowing a single House member, himself, to push the chamber to consider voting out the speaker, according to the Washington Post.
Democrats and far-right Republicans often, if not almost always, disagree. This time, they voted together.
Mace had said she was undecided on how she would vote on McCarthy just two days before the vote took place. But she had voiced her dissatisfaction with McCarthy multiple times, specifically for not following through on promises on legislation related to contraception. She also has talked about four other promises she said McCarthy made to her, including on “gun violence” and “balancing the budget,” Mace said.
“I empathize with Matt Gaetz over his frustration,” Mace said on The View earlier this week. “I’m frustrated equally but for different, different, very different reasons,” she said.
Less than a year prior, McCarthy went to Charleston to endorse Mace, calling her “strong willed.”
After Mace voted to oust McCarthy, Politico congressional reporter tweeted that Republican Governance Group (RG2) members were “already discussing removing her from their group.”
Ultimately, Mace followed through on her threats. Clyburn voted with the Democrats.
“Today I voted for the Motion to Vacate and remove the Speaker,” Mace wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This isn’t about left vs right. This isn’t about ideology. This is about trust and keeping your word. This is about making Congress do it’s job. I promised the Lowcountry I would be an independent voice in Congress.”
Clyburn and Mace also voted against an earlier motion to table the vote on replacing McCarthy, effectively forcing the vote on his replacing.
The interim speaker, Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, will now be put into place until a new House speaker is voted on. When McCarthy was voted as the speaker in January of this year, it took 15 rounds of voting to approve him. McCarthy lasted 269 days in the job, the New York Times reported. It is unkown if McCarthy will attempt to run again for speaker, and who else may try for the spot.
This story was originally published October 3, 2023 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Here’s how SC representatives voted in historic effort to oust US House speaker."