Centrist House Republicans reeling over former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s historic removal are scrambling to prevent a similar political earthquake in the future by forcing the change of one key rule.
Currently, the House permits a single member to force a floor vote on a motion to vacate the chair, a parliamentary mechanism Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) deployed successfully against McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday.
McCarthy himself agreed to lower the threshold for a floor vote on a motion to vacate during his successful negotiations with far-right Republican members, which helped win him the gavel in January.
“I’m not supporting ANYONE for Speaker until there is a commitment to reform the Motion to Vacate,” Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.) posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“The coup against Speaker McCarthy was DESPICABLE & must never happen again. No one can govern effectively while being threatened by fringe hostage takers.”
Historically, the threshold to force a floor vote sat at one, but former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) elevated it to a majority of either party during her tenure after some Republicans threatened to deploy it against former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in 2015.
“The ability for one person to vacate the Speaker of the House will keep a chokehold on this body through 2024,” the center-right Republican Main Street Caucus said in a statement.
“Personal politics should never again be used to trump the will of 96% of House conservatives. Any candidate for Speaker must explain to us how what happened on Tuesday will never happen again,” added the group, comprised of 68 Republican members.
One of McCarthy’s top allies, Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) disbursed a letter to his colleagues Wednesday underscoring the need to change the rules.
“The injustice we all witnessed yesterday cannot go unaddressed—lest we bear responsibility for the consequences that follow,” he wrote. “Our Conference must address fundamental changes to the structure of our majority to ensure success for the American people.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) even suggested scrapping the motion to vacate completely from the House rules.
“I hope whoever the next speaker is gets rid of the motion to vacate,” he said. “I think it makes the speaker’s job impossible, and the American people expect us to have a functioning government.”
After getting dethroned, McCarthy himself seemingly nudged the conference to tweak the rules to prevent similar exploitation in the future.
“I don’t think that rule is good for the institution but apparently I’m the only one,” McCarthy bemoaned late Tuesday during a farewell speech and news conference.
McCarthy is the first sitting speaker of the House to be ousted via a motion to vacate, which has only been filed three times in US history.
Boehner resigned in 2015 before the motion was put to a vote and former House Speaker Joseph Cannon (R-Ill.) survived a motion to vacate in 1910.
The statements in favor of changing the rules highlighted the simmering anger at Gaetz and his seven fellows who joined 208 Democrats to oust McCarthy.
“So the way moderates want to punish me is by making it harder to remove Speaker Jordan or Speaker Scalise? OH NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!!” a pugnacious Gaetz sneered in response to Gimenez on X.
Another idea being floated is to expel Gaetz from the House Republican conference depending on how an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation shakes out.
McHenry announced Tuesday night that he is tentatively planning to hold a speakership candidate forum Oct. 10, with a vote of the full House the following day.
Already, two big GOP heavy hitters have tossed their hat into the ring: Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.)