Kevin McCarthy Ejected as House Speaker in Historic Defeat, Sending House Into Utter Chaos

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted from his post as Speaker of the House on Tuesday, one day after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) followed through on his longstanding threat to file a motion to vacate the chair on Monday.

Gaetz was joined by a small number of disgruntled Republicans and the entirety of the Democratic caucus — which resolved not to save McCarthy Tuesday morning — in voting to remove McCarthy Tuesday afternoon.

The final vote was votes 216 Yea (to remove McCarthy) and 210 votes Nay (not to remove McCarthy), according to CNN. It marks the first time in American history that a speaker has been removed from his position by his colleagues in such a manner.

The California Republican had only held the position since this January, when Gaetz and a group of conservative holdouts forced him to go through 15 rounds of voting — and grant them major concessions — before they ultimately relented and let him hold the gavel for all of 9 months.

McCarthy’s short, tumultuous tenure saw him release tapes from the January 6 Capitol riot to Tucker Carlson and open up an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden in an effort to appease his right flank, but also broker a budget deal with Biden and House Democrats that incensed some members of his own caucus.

Gaetz has long been a vocal critic of McCarthy, and finally made his move on Monday night after McCarthy cut a deal with Democrats so he could pass a stopgap spending bill and keep the government open in spite of Gaetz’s opposition last week.

McCarthy could still seek to be reinstated, but other candidates to ascend to the speakership include House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY).

Watch the historic moment above via Fox News.

This is a breaking news story and has been updated.