McCarthy's removal paralyzes the House of Representatives

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung McCarthy's removal paralyzes the House of Representatives 3 hours. Kevin McCarthy appears in front of the cameras after being voted out. The sacked chairman of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, does not want to run for the powerful post again. “I will not run for chairman again,” said McCarthy on Tuesday evening (local time) after the historic vote that removed the Republican from office. He let his group elect someone else. The successor will not be decided until next week at the earliest. MPs were informed that no further votes were expected this week. The House of Representatives is currently completely paralyzed by the drama. Until a successor to McCarthy is elected, all remaining legislative work is on hold. A majority of the House had previously voted to remove McCarthy as leader. The background is an internal revolt among the Republicans. It is the first time in US history that a Speaker of the House of Representatives has lost his job in this way. Led by Republican hardliner Matt Gaetz, seven other Republicans voted against their party colleague. The Democrats decided not to come to McCarthy's aid and voted against him. Matt Gaetz speaks to reporters after submitting his application. Although the Republicans actually have the majority in the House of Representatives, this resulted in a narrow majority against McCarthy. Gaetz had accused McCarthy, among other things, of making common cause with Democratic President Joe Biden instead of working for the Republican faction. Chaos among Republicans: motion to remove McCarthy No designated successor yet McCarthy's Republican opponents Gaetz and Bob Good gave information on Tuesday evening after an internal party meeting. The acting chairman of the chamber, Republican Patrick McHenry, announced that possible successor candidates should be given a few days to make their ambitions public and canvass for votes within their own ranks. On Tuesday a week from now, the Republicans will meet again for an internal meeting in which potential successors can introduce themselves. Only then should an election be scheduled in the plenary session. McHenry is only temporarily employed for formal tasks, but he does not fill the chairman role politically. It is unclear who could become the next leader of the House of Representatives. According to Fox News host Sean Hannity, some Republican lawmakers are now even trying to get former President Donald Trump to run for speaker. The American Constitution does not explicitly state that the chairman of the House of Representatives must be a representative himself, even though this has always been the case. McCarthy attacks Gaetz again During his partly emotional, partly aggressive appearance, McCarthy said that the speaker position was the greatest honor for him. “I loved every minute.” He is at peace with himself. “I wouldn’t do anything differently,” he emphasized. “If I lose my job because I do what I really believe is right, then I can live with that very well.” Self-deprecatingly, he said: “I made history, right?” At the same time, the Republican criticized the rebels within the party - especially Gaetz. McCarthy complained that it was by no means about content, but rather about personal matters and getting media attention. He rejected Gaetz's allegations of working with Biden. “Just because Gaetz said something doesn’t mean it’s true. I haven’t heard him say a single true thing.” McCarthy complained that it should not be possible for a leader of the House of Representatives to have the overwhelming majority of his group behind him and still be removed from office by eight MPs along with the other party. “I don’t think there should be this rule – regardless of who the chairman is.” Parliament as an institution has failed.