Speaker Kevin McCarthy: US House of Representatives votes to oust Republican leader

BBC News:

Kevin McCarthy has been toppled in a right-wing revolt – the first time ever that a US House of Representatives Speaker has lost a no-confidence vote. 

The final tally was 216-210 to remove the California congressman as leader of the Republican majority in the lower chamber of Congress.

Ultra-conservatives mutinied after he struck a deal on Saturday with Senate Democrats to fund government agencies. 

There is no obvious successor to oversee the House Republican majority.

Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, a Trump ally, filed a rarely used procedural tool known as a motion to vacate on Monday night to oust Mr McCarthy.

He accused the Speaker of making a secret deal with the White House to continue funding for Ukraine, amid negotiations to avert a partial government shutdown at the weekend. Mr McCarthy denies it.

At a private meeting of Republican lawmakers on Tuesday evening after losing his job, Mr McCarthy told colleagues he did not plan to run for Speaker again.

He later took aim at his political nemesis, Mr Gaetz, accusing him of attention-seeking.

“You know it was personal,” Mr McCarthy told a news conference, “it had nothing to do with spending.”