Bigger than expected rebel vote puts McCarthy on verge of being ousted as speaker

A small group of conservative House Republicans paired with Democrats on Tuesday to advance an effort to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

A majority of House lawmakers voted to defeat Mr. McCarthy’s measure to kill a resolution by conservative firebrand Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to strip him of the speaker’s gavel.

The House will now debate and vote on Mr. Gaetz’s resolution to oust Mr. McCarthy, which has bitterly divided the Republican conference.

A group of 11 Republicans voted with Democrats to defeat Mr. McCarthy’s gavel-saving measure.

The GOP rebels joining Mr. Gaetz to push forward the resolution to remove Mr. McCarthy were Reps. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Eli Crane of Arizona, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Cory Mills of Florida, Matt Rosendale of Montana and Victoria Spartz of Indiana.

If the House now votes to remove Mr. McCarthy, the historic move would trigger votes for a new speaker that would continue until a lawmaker can win a majority of support.

The most likely successor is Mr. McCarthy’s deputy, Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana.

The effort to oust Mr. McCarthy has been orchestrated by Mr. Gaetz, 41, who said the California Republican did not uphold conservative priorities in the fiscal 2024 spending fight.

He was elected speaker in January but only after a protracted fight with Mr. Gaetz and a group of nearly two dozen Republicans who initially opposed him but relented after a history-making 15 rounds of voting. Since becoming the speaker, Mr. McCarthy has faced continued threats from Mr. Gaetz and others on his right flank who demanded significant spending cuts to government funding to combat the nation’s $33 trillion debt.

Mr. McCarthy’s speakership is supported by the vast majority of the GOP conference and many of them tore into Mr. Gaetz for orchestrating what has amounted to chaos in the GOP-led House.

Mr. McCarthy’s ouster would raise questions about the ability of anyone to lead a GOP majority that is so razor-thin that a handful of Republicans can depose the speaker.

Mr. McCarthy called up the vote on his own fate Tuesday afternoon, following days of back-and-forth jabs with Mr. Gaetz.

Mr. McCarthy called Mr. Gaetz’s efforts to oust him “personal,” but the move to force him out highlights a growing divide within the party on its future, much of it intertwined with former President Donald Trump, the prohibitive favorite in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.