Removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House

On October 3, 2023, the United States House of Representatives voted to remove its speaker, Kevin McCarthy of California, through a motion to vacate filed by Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, a fellow member of the Republican Party. McCarthy's removal marked the first time in American history that a speaker of the House was removed through a motion to vacate. The vacancy started a process to elect a speaker that began following an eight-day recess.

In the 118th Congress, the 2022 elections formed a narrow majority for Republicans in the House of Representatives. The Freedom Caucus, the most conservative congressional caucus of Republican representatives, secured a minority of these seats. During the speakership election for the 118th Congress, McCarthy faced significant opposition within the Republican Conference from the Freedom Caucus, who saw him as untrustworthy and insufficiently conservative. After fifteen rounds of voting, McCarthy was elected speaker, conceding to his opponents by allowing any representative to file a motion to vacate. The potential of a government shutdown began to take hold in July 2023, with the Freedom Caucus—in demonstrations of austerity and defiance toward McCarthy—opposing spending bills to fund the government.

By September, the federal government appeared poised to shut down. The Freedom Caucus furthered its warnings to McCarthy: they warned him against brokering a deal with Democrats to pass temporary appropriations legislation, asking him to pass an all-year budget with deep spending cuts instead. McCarthy nevertheless led the House of Representatives in passing a continuing resolution on September 30; its passage was reliant on bipartisan support, but more Democrats than Republicans voted in favor. On October 2, Gaetz, a member of the Freedom Caucus, filed a motion to vacate.

Following an unsuccessful motion to table by Representative Tom Cole, Republican Chair of the Rules Committee, Republican representatives debated McCarthy's speakership on the House floor. When the time for debate expired, the House voted to remove McCarthy, with insurgent Republicans and all Democrats present voting against him. The speaker's chair was vacated and Patrick McHenry of North Carolina—a McCarthy ally—was made speaker pro tempore and the House went without a proper speaker until the October 25 election of Mike Johnson of Louisiana. McCarthy subsequently announced his resignation from Congress effective at the end of 2023.