Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) blamed “MAGA enablers” in the House GOP as the reason Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was removed from the Speakership on Tuesday, the first time a Speaker has been voted out of the role.
“Kevin McCarthy’s sycophantic appeasement of Trump’s MAGA enablers brought to our body chaos, extremism and his own toppling,” Raskin said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after the vote. “Today, unified behind our exceptional leadership, Democrats are clearly the only party capable of ending the dysfunction and governing for the common good.”
Eight Republicans voted with Democrats to oust McCarthy.
The Republicans who did so generally cited as a primary reason McCarthy’s decision to prevent a government shutdown last weekend by bringing to the floor a “clean” stopgap measure that won more Democratic than Republican support.
“The American people need a Speaker who will fight to keep the promises Republicans made to get the majority, not someone who cuts fiscally irresponsible deals that get more Democrat votes than Republican votes,” Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), who voted to oust McCarthy, said in a statement.
In a statement earlier Tuesday, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said that Democrats would vote to remove McCarthy from the Speaker role, citing their own broken promises in bipartisan negotiations.
“Under the Republican majority, the House has been restructured to empower right-wing extremists, kowtow to their harsh demands and impose a rigid partisan ideology,” Jeffries said.
“Given their unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican Motion to Vacate the Chair.”
Without a Speaker, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) — a McCarthy ally — leads the House as Speaker pro tempore.