The Saint

By News Editor Grace Wilson

For the first time in history, the House of Representatives fired their leader, the Speaker of the House, in the middle of a term on Oct. 3, 2023.

Kevin McCarthy, a Republican congressman from California, won the leadership of the House in January after 15 rounds of voting. This was already an unprecedented event as the election of a Speaker is usually straightforward with the majority party controlling the leadership position. However, a normally staunch two-party system was interrupted by a small group of Republicans who demanded McCarthy meet their terms before they voted for his leadership. In the end, McCarthy accepted their demands and became the 55th Speaker of the House.

Within the past few weeks, one of the main headlines dominating the news has been the possible government shutdown due to a lack of federal funding. The U.S. Congress votes on the federal budget, making decisions such as what money goes where, how much to tax, and whether to raise the debt ceiling. When the government reaches the end of the budget, Congress has to pass a new budget or the government will run out of money and shutdown. This means that only “essential” government employees will continue working without pay. Effects include a crippled economy, no Social Security checks, and many other hindrances that will effect the nation as a whole. 

Most recently, the federal budget was set to run out on Oct. 1. Lawmakers rushed to find a deal that would satisfy enough Republicans to pass the bill in the House and enough Democrats to pass it in the Senate. McCarthy was able to work out a deal with Democrats mere hours before the deadline to give Congress until November to create another budget. However, the few fringe Republicans were resistant to the deal and warned they would move to fire McCarthy if the bill passed.

On Oct. 3, Rep. Matt Gaetz filed a motion to oust McCarthy. The vote, 216-to-210, removed the House of its leader for the first time ever. All 208 Democrat representatives voted with the 8 Republicans that interrupted the January vote. McCarthy has announced he will not be seeking reelection. The House will now have to revote to find a new Speaker of the House, hopefully in time to write and pass a new federal budget before funding runs out in November.