Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to reporters after a closed-door meeting with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and other House Republicans after Gaetz filed a motion to oust McCarthy from his leadership role, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
By Lisa Mascaro and Farnoush Amiri, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was voted out of the job Tuesday in an extraordinary showdown, a first in U.S. history.
U.S. Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado cast one of the eight deciding Republican votes to oust McCarthy. Lauren Boebert and Doug Lamborn, the two other GOP members of Colorado’s U.S. House delegation, voted against removing McCarthy.
All six Democrats in Colorado’s U.S. House delegation voted with the rest of their party in the chamber to remove McCarthy as speaker.
The 216-210 vote, forced by a contingent of hard-right conservatives, throws the House and its Republican leadership into chaos.
McCarthy’s chief rival, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, brought forward the “motion to vacate” drawing together more than a handful of conservative Republican critics of the speaker and many Democrats who say he is unworthy of leadership.
Next steps are uncertain, but there is no obvious successor to lead the House Republican majority.
Boebert explained her vote in a post on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.
“Now is not the time to remove the speaker,” she wrote. “My focus right now is on getting the federal government funded.”
This is a developing story that will be updated.
Colorado Sun reporter Jesse Paul contributed to this report.
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