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U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Loses Job
Kevin McCarthy has become the first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to lose the job.
The Republican Congressman from California was ousted days after he brokered the passage of a stopgap spending bill to keep the U.S. government running and avoid a shutdown with support from the rival Democratic Party.
The stopgap legislation angered hardline conservatives of the Republican Party who moved quickly to vote McCarthy out of his role as House Speaker.
Members of the House of Representatives voted 216 to 210 in favour of removing McCarthy as Speaker, with some members abstaining.
It is the first time in U.S. history that a House Speaker has been voted out of the position.
Eight Republicans joined with all Democrats in voting to remove McCarthy through a procedure called a“motion to vacate.” McCarthy said he will not run for House Speaker again.
Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry was chosen to preside over the lower chamber of Congress until a new Speaker is selected.
Current government funding provided for in the stopgap legislation only extends to November of this year, setting the stage for another showdown that could lead to a federal shutdown in Washington, D.C.
Getting agreement on long-term funding to keep the U.S. government going is now complicated by the lack of a House Speaker.
McCarthy became House Speaker in January of this year but had to make many concessions to hardline conservatives to win the role, which took 15 rounds of voting.
The next House Speaker is likely to face continued turmoil caused by a small group of Republicans who continuously block their own party's legislation and political efforts.
Moody's Investors Service (MCO) recently warned that Washington's political polarization is a negative for its rating on U.S. debt because it constrains policymaking that impacts America's fiscal situation.
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