Source: Anna Rose Layden / Getty
Following Kevin McCarthy’s ousting as House Speaker, a representative from North Carolina will serve in the interim.
As reported by WRAL, McCarthy named Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Charlotte-area Republican, as interim House Speaker, following the House’s vote to remove him, 216-210. The move was pushed in retaliation by far-right Republicans upset that McCarthy worked with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown.
McCarthy is the first House speaker in history to be forced out by House vote.
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McHenry will serve as “speaker pro tempore” until the House votes on a permanent replacement. He is the first representative from North Carolina to serve as speaker in modern times.
Meanwhile, there is no word on when a new permanent speaker would be chosen. It is also unclear if McHenry wants to take the role permanently himself. If so, he could face challenges as a McCarthy ally.
“He’s been aligned with McCarthy, since they’ve been in Congress together and has been sort of his right hand person,” said David McLennan, a political science professor at Meredith College. “… Anything Patrick McHenry might want to do, he could face the same kind of pushback that McCarthy got.”
Either way, we will definitely be watching to see how this turns out.
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