On Tuesday, eight Republicans, including one who made the initial movement, and every Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to boot House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from the position.
It was the first time in U.S. history a House speaker has been ousted from office, and it included a “yes” vote from Washington’s Third Congressional District Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Washougal.
McCarthy doesn’t rely on bipartisanship, Gluesenkamp Perez wrote in a statement on her vote. The motion was filed by Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who, with a small group of other conservatives, have been at odds with McCarthy over stopgap funding plans, or “continuing resolutions,” according to the Associated Press, namely those that would supply aid to Ukraine.
Argument over this nearly resulted in a government shutdown over the weekend, which was narrowly avoided when McCarthy “abandoned demands for steep spending cuts from his right flank and instead relied on Democrats to pass the bill, at risk to his own job,” the AP reported.
Democrats have criticized McCarthy’s tendency to pander to this group of Republicans, however.
Gluesenkamp Perez, of the former speaker, wrote on Tuesday, “He’s taken our country to the brink of a default and the brink of a shutdown because of his refusal to operate in a bipartisan manner. He’s shown he’d rather be held hostage by a bunch of weirdos than admit he cannot lead the people’s House.”
She said the House needs to take a “new direction,” favoring “normal Americans, not political extremists.”
Republicans will propose a new speaker next week, who will need to earn a majority vote from the House to take the seat.
“Members of both parties now need to work together and come to terms on a stable, bipartisan governing arrangement,” wrote Gluesenkamp Perez on Tuesday. “My priority will always be what’s best for Southwest Washington and the country.”
