President Biden on Tuesday weighed in on Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) being ousted as Speaker, saying that the House should elect a Speaker quickly.
“President Biden has demonstrated that he is always eager to work with both parties in Congress in good faith on behalf of the American people. Because the urgent challenges facing our nation will not wait, he hopes the House will quickly elect a Speaker,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said soon after the House vote.
The statement notably did not mention McCarthy, whether he should be reelected Speaker or endorse a new Speaker.
“Once the House has met their responsibility to elect a Speaker, he looks forward to working together with them and with the Senate to address the American peoples’ priorities,” Jean-Pierre said, referring to Biden.
The White House has tried to keep out of the drama in the House prior to the vote, saying it won’t get involved and won’t comment on leadership but called the situation “chaotic.”
“As it relates to the chaos that we see in the House Republicans, yeah it’s chaotic. Right. There is chaos there, a small majority of their conference is indeed causing chaos,” Jean-Pierre said earlier on Tuesday.
On Thursday evening, a small group of House Republicans led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) joined with Democrats to oust McCarthy, including Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Bob Good (Va.), Nancy Mace (S.C.) and Matt Rosendale (Mont.).
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), a key McCarthy ally, was declared acting Speaker, known as Speaker pro tempore. Tuesday marks the first time the House has ever voted to remove a sitting Speaker, a historic development that will catapult the chamber into another chaotic Speaker’s race, following January’s marathon election of McCarthy.
During that election, McCarthy agreed to a number of conditions, including changing the threshold to force a vote on ousting the Speaker from five members to just one, in order to sway the 20 holdout Republicans who were against him.
While Gaetz had been threatening to force a vote on ousting the Speaker for weeks, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) sent a “dear colleague” Tuesday that Democratic leadership would support the effort to oust McCarthy.