Two House GOP members announce runs for speaker after McCarthy’s removal: Highlights

It was inevitable that giving Rep. Matt Gaetz the procedural bazooka he demanded would end in McCarthy's political annihilation.

For Gaetz — a 2020 election denier, a defender of the Jan. 6 insurrection and the subject of an ethics investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and more — rules seem to matter most when they benefit him. The animating tenet of his political ideology — a strain of the broader conservative bent against taxation and spending — is that the federal government works against the public interest because it is corrupt. Chaos feeds his narrative.

McCarthy’s substantive sins were avoiding a national default and a federal shutdown, which interfered with Gaetz’s ability to demonstrate that the government is broken. So Gaetz, R-Fla., used his procedural weapon — the “motion to vacate” — to do the next best thing: He aligned with Democrats to throw the House into a state of anarchy. For one day, at least, Gaetz and his seven followers ruled the 433-member House.

“To do this on the floor is embarrassing and does not give the American public much confidence in Republicans being able to govern,” former Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., said in a text message. “This small group just voted WITH the Democrats while ousting the speaker because the Democrats voted WITH the speaker and the majority of Republicans to keep the government open.”

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had positive things to say today about Scalise and Jordan when asked about their respective speaker bids, but he stopped short of saying who he would prefer to see in the top House post.

"I know both of those guys," DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, said of his former House colleagues. "They’re both good guys."

In his remarks to reporters at an event in Greenville, South Carolina, DeSantis spoke in broad terms about what the next speaker needs to do.

"You can’t just say, continue business as usual. You got to be somebody that understands we need a fundamentally different path here," he said.

DeSantis went on to say that GOP leaders are often out of step with their voters compared with Democrats.

"I think the Republican Party for a long time has had problems with leadership that’s not reflective of the voters that put them there. Whereas on the other side, the Democrat leadership is representative of where their voters are in a lot of issues."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., issued a statement today on McCarthy — more than 24 hours after the California Republican was ousted as speaker.

“Since January, Kevin and I have had a respectful, communicative and forward-looking relationship. On many occasions, we strongly disagreed with each other. However, we agreed to disagree without being personally disagreeable in order to find common ground whenever possible,” Jeffries said.

"I wish Speaker McCarthy, his family and dedicated staff Godspeed as he begins the next chapter in his public service and professional journey."

Jeffries highlighted McCarthy's work to begin addressing artificial intelligence and an effort to form a select committee on strategic competition between the U.S. and China, urging the continuation of both initiatives.

In a statement yesterday, Jeffries said that Democrats would vote in favor of McCarthy's removal and called on his GOP colleagues "to end the House Republican Civil War."

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., today had nothing but good things to say about Reps. Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise when asked about their respective bids for House speaker.

“I am thrilled with them. I am certain that under the stewardship of either Mr. Scalise or Mr. Jordan, the House of Representatives will be in far better stead than we were with Mr. McCarthy," Gaetz told NBC News.

Asked what either lawmaker would do that McCarthy didn't, Gaetz said, "A budget."

He also said that Scalise or Jordan would pass appropriations bills that McCarthy had been unable to pass during his nine-month tenure.

Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., said in an interview with "Meet the Press NOW" that he supports House Majority Leader Steve Scalise for speaker.

"I'm a Scalise guy," Womack said. "He's the next in charge. He's got an operation already built. He's been tried and he's been tested."

"I think we need the kind of leadership that Steve can bring us. There's no question about his conservative bonafides," Womack added. "He is an absolutely thoughtful conservative, and I think he has the potential to get McCarthy-style support within our conference."

Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, R-N.Y., told Andrea Mitchell this afternoon on MSNBC that “an egomaniac named Matt Gaetz decided to take out personal issues with the speaker on the House floor."

“Now we have to deal with, over the next week, going to conference, finding new leadership, finding a new speaker, electing one, and then getting back to the people's business," D'Esposito said.

The New York Republican went on to say that Gaetz, R-Fla., is "getting in my way" of fulfilling duties to constituents.

“This is not what the people of the 4th Congressional District sent me here to do. They sent me here to govern, and that's exactly what I want to do. But Matt Gaetz is getting in my way," he said.

D'Esposito said that "egotistical maniac" Gaetz's moves to oust McCarthy were a "personal vendetta."

“What happened yesterday is literally going to put the American government to a halt until we find a speaker, and that should never happen again at the hands of one lunatic," D'Esposito said.

Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., one of McCarthy’s top allies who helped negotiate his ascendancy to the speakership in January and the debt ceiling deal this year, said he has “no interest at all” in a leadership position.

"I enjoy doing the behind-the-scenes work. I love the policy. But no interest in" a leadership post, Graves told NBC News' Ryan Nobles.

Graves is not yet backing any of the GOP lawmakers who have formally declared their candidacy for speaker, and said it would be a “mistake” to commit right now given the tension in the caucus after yesterday's events.

“I think the first step at this point is actually letting folks go home and cool down a little bit. There’s some really raw emotions. I think if we hung around here right now you would probably see some folks breaking out in a fistfight,” he said.

Graves is among lawmakers who are calling for Republicans to re-examine their rules that allow for just one member to call for a vote to oust the speaker.

The House has adjourned until Friday at 10 a.m. ET. McHenry, who is the temporary speaker, took no questions from reporters outside of the House chamber.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said in an interview on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" that McCarthy didn't ask Democrats for their help in saving his role as speaker.

"He didn’t ask for our help," Slotkin said, adding that some Democrats who have close relationships with Republicans were waiting for them to make a deal and McCarthy never got to that point.

Slotkin also criticized McCarthy for blaming Democrats for the position he and Republicans are in, arguing that Democrats just worked with GOP lawmakers to keep the government funded and prevent a shutdown.

“So, if I’m speaker of the House and I just depended on Democrats to pass a bipartisan bill for the good of the country...then I wouldn’t turn around the next day and try to blame Democrats for the situation that he was in."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters this afternoon at his weekly leadership news conference that he hopes "whoever the next speaker is gets rid of the motion to vacate."

"I have no advice to give to the House Republicans except one," McConnell said. "I hope whoever the next speaker is gets rid of the motion to vacate."

McConnell said the motion to vacate "puts whoever the speaker is in a hammerlock of dysfunction."

"I think it makes the speaker's job impossible and the American people expect us to have a functioning government," McConnell added.

As Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., spoke to reporters this afternoon, the emergency alert system interrupted the Senate GOP leadership news conference.

Someone asked, "When does it stop?" This came as people's devices blared loud sirens.

"That's what they're asking over there: When does it stop?" Capito said as she seemed to motion in the direction of the House.

Biden addressed the ousting of McCarthy at the top of his planned remarks on student debt relief, acknowledging that while finding a new speaker may take time, "we have a lot of work to do, and the American people expect us to get it done."

The president also cautioned against future "brinksmanship" as the government's funding dries up next month, and he said he was grateful that leaders, including McCarthy, worked to keep the government open last weekend.

He also called for more bipartisan cooperation.

"More than anything we need to change the poisonous atmosphere in Washington," Biden said. "You know, we have strong disagreements, but we need to stop seeing each other as enemies. We need to talk to one another, listen to one another, work with one another, and we can do that."

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced this afternoon that he plans to run for speaker.

He was expected to jump into the race to fill the top post in the House. Scalise, 57, nearly died after being shot in 2017 at a congressional baseball practice for Republicans. Scalise has since recovered.

"I firmly believe this Conference is a family. When I was shot in 2017, it was Members of this Conference who saved my life on that field. When I made it to the hospital and my family was told my chances of surviving were low, it was the prayers from all of you that carried us through," he wrote in a letter to House Republicans.

"When I was in the hospital for nearly 15 weeks, it was the possibility of getting back to work with all of you that kept me motivated to get better," Scalise said.

Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez, R-Fla., said in an interview late Tuesday that he had heard about some possible speaker candidates being floated, but said so far, "Nobody has my vote."

The next speaker must commit to holding a floor vote that would change how the motion to vacate happens, he said on CNN. Gimenez, the former mayor of Miami-Dade County who came to Congress in 2021, said the next speaker should also allow for changing other House rules.

Referring to the current rule allowing one person to call for a motion to vacate vote, Gimenez said, "I think it's a little bit insane. ... We cannot continue to govern this way."

"I don't expect the next [speaker's] race to be easy," said Gimenez, who noted that his conference has divisions.

He said the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy as House speaker aren't "actually true Republicans," calling them "a fringe group."

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., floated the names of one Democrat and two Republicans — Reps. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Tom Cole of Oklahoma — as potential choices to fill the vacant speakership in the House.

"I think that their leader Scalise, I know he is having some health problems," Clyburn said in an interview with "Morning Joe" this morning, referring to the majority leader's treatment for blood cancer. "But, Steve Scalise is a great guy."

"I think that Cole would be a sort of the kind of tone that we would like to see," he added.

Clyburn, the assistant Democratic leader and former majority whip, also added that McCarthy made it "virtually impossible" for Democrats to save him from being ousted because of his on-air criticisms of them the day after they voted to support his effort to pass a short-term government spending bill. Clyburn said nearly all Democrats went ahead and voted for the bill even though it didn't address some of their key priorities, like Ukraine aid.

"So, the next morning, he goes on TV and blamed Democrats for everything that went wrong the day before and blamed us for wanting to shut down the government, made it impossible for Democrats to find some area of commonality," Clyburn said.

In an interview, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, told NBC News: “Jim’s a good friend. And I think he’d be great speaker. Most importantly, he’d make a great speaker for the people of Ohio. Obviously, I have no idea what the House dynamics are, and I won’t pretend to know, but if he won, I’d be very happy about it and I plan to help him. But I don’t know how much I can offer from this side.”

Asked if that’s an endorsement, he said: “Sure. Of course, it’s an endorsement.”

He added: “Look, there a lot of people, I’m sure, good people who are going to run, but Jim’s the guy that I know the best. ... He’s a good guy who would do a good job.” 

Jim Jordan, who said today that he plans to run for speaker, told reporters that he is against another government spending measure that provides additional assistance to Ukraine.

"I’m against [a Ukraine package]," he told reporters. "What I understand is, at some point, we’re gonna have to deal with this appropriations process in the right way, and we’re probably gonna do that in the next 41 days. The most pressing issue on Americans' minds is not Ukraine, it’s the border situation and crime on the streets. So let’s address those."

Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., said the House of Representatives is "frozen" because of "clowns like Matt Gaetz."

“If we're going to continue to have clowns like Matt Gaetz as part of the Republican conference, as part of this Congress, then you're going to have to have rules in place that prevent him from doing his charade every single week,” Graves said.

Graves said that he is "not backing anyone right now" as speaker, saying it would be a "mistake" to "just give everybody one rung of promotion."

"That is premature. We’ve got to address some fundamental issues. ... I think we need to do a deeper dive and look at the accountability of the leadership team," Graves said.

Graves added that he sees a scenario in which Rep. Patrick McHenry maintains his role as interim speaker for "an extended period."

"I think we need to be very thoughtful about the role, the responsibilities and the authority that he can exercise in that position, because I would love to find us, to be in a situation, where we can move forward on appropriations bills and other things right now," Graves said.

In a post on X, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland wrote that "Congressman Byron Donalds should be considered as the next Speaker of the House."

Donalds, a Florida congressman who's seen as a rising star in the Republican Party, was one of the names put forth by the Republican House members who voted against McCarthy during the speakership battle in January. Donalds, who is Black and a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus, is considered a possible candidate for speaker in this election.

Harris was among those who voted against McCarthy in January but voted against the motion to vacate that ousted him from office.

Scalise, the House majority leader, is one of several Republicans meeting with Texas House Republicans today.

The delegation is the largest in the House Republican Conference, with 25 members who have a range of ideological views.

Other Republicans meeting with the delegation include Jordan and Hern.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters that he would be sending a letter seeking support for his speaker bid.

"We haven’t sent anything out formally, but we will," he said outside of a closed-door huddle with the Texas delegation this morning.

Scalise acknowledged Rep. Jim Jordan's bid for the job, telling NBC News, "Look, I’m sure a lot of people are going to look at this — as they should. This is really important that we get this right."

Scalise added what he told the Texas delegation: "Texans, like the rest of our conference, we all have strong passions about getting our border secure, about getting our spending under control and about fighting for families who are struggling."

Democratic Whip Katherine Clark said her caucus would support the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., to fill the vacant speakership.

"We're clear who our leadership is, Hakeem Jeffries," Clark, of Massachusetts, said on CNN when asked to comment on the likely Republican contenders for the job.

It is unlikely that a Democrat could win enough votes to become House speaker. With 221 Republicans and 212 Democrats, the GOP holds the majority in the House.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent a letter to the members of his conference asking for their support in his bid for speakership.

"The problems we face are challenging, but they are not insurmountable," he wrote. "We can focus on the changes that improve the country and unite us in offering real solutions. But no matter what we do, we must do it together as a conference. I respectfully ask for your support for Speaker of the House of Representatives."

The far-right congressman also pointed to his work on immigration legislation and his role heading the Judiciary Committee.

"With other committee chairs and the members of the Judiciary Committee, I am doing the oversight and holding the Administration accountable," Jordan said in the letter. "And I have been among the leaders in pushing for fiscal discipline my entire career."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., laid into House Republicans in remarks on the Senate floor today, arguing that until the GOP stops its "infighting," work cannot get done.

"We find ourselves in a dangerous situation, with about 40 days to go before the government shuts down," he said. "The House has ground completely to a halt."

If there were to be a national crisis that demanded "immediate action," the House would be "unable to quickly respond," Schumer said.

"Let me say this to the next speaker of the House, whomever that may be: Think carefully about what happened to your predecessors before trying to coddle the hard right," he said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., lauded Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on his tenure as House speaker.

"He had all the qualities of an effective representative and speaker," McConnell said Wednesday.

McConnell credited the former House speaker for averting a government shutdown by getting a short-term spending measure passed over the weekend, telling reporters that McCarthy "made sure that the people’s House was once again open to the American people."

"And he can rest assured that his colleagues, myself included, will continue to draw on his talents and optimism in the days that lie ahead," McConnell said.

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, declined Wednesday morning to comment on Jordan's bid for House speaker.

“I have no reaction at this point until I see who all the candidates are,” Buck said.

Meanwhile, Buck said in an interview with "Meet the Press NOW" on Monday that he had no intent of stepping forward as a candidate for speaker, calling it the "worst job in America."

"I guarantee you, Ken Buck and Matt Gaetz is not one of those people," Buck said when asked if he would run. "I might get three votes."

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., said he is "all in" on Jordan as the next speaker.

"We need a conservative fighter to stand up strong to the Biden White House and Democrat Senate, and I can’t think of anyone better than Jim Jordan," Banks told NBC News.

Banks also posted his support on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, writing, "He never backs down and has my full support."

McCarthy arrived at the Capitol moments ago and entered the speaker’s office.

When asked by NBC News how he was feeling, he responded, "Great!"

McCarthy did not stop to answer any other questions. 

Chris Christie referred to McCarthy's removal as "political assassination" in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

"Matt Gaetz doesn’t like Kevin McCarthy and was intent upon executing this type of, this type of assassination. And that’s what he did," Christie said. "It was a political assassination yesterday of Kevin McCarthy."

When asked where the GOP goes next, Christie said there was "no obvious choice" for the next speaker.

"I think, you know, Steve Scalise, Tom Emmer are some of the names, Jim Jordan, but there’s no obvious choice here, the same way that even though McCarthy was the obvious choice because of his history, everyone knew the problems going in," Christie said. "I think you’ve got to play hard to get."

Last Wednesday, three days before a widely feared government shutdown, far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and issued a categorical threat.

If House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., relied on Democrats to keep the government open, said Gaetz, R-Fla., there would “very likely” be “a motion to vacate that the speaker would face.”

Just hours before the government would run out of money to keep operating, McCarthy decided to defy Gaetz and did just that: He avoided a shutdown by putting forward a bill that Democrats would support.

Fast-forward three days. McCarthy is now the first speaker in history to have been voted out of his job — 216 to 210 — with a mere eight Republican detractors in the wafer-thin majority sealing his fate and siding with Democrats to oust him.

“A lot of them I helped get elected, so I probably should have picked somebody else,” McCarthy quipped Tuesday evening of those eight conservative members.

“My fear is the institution fell today,” he said.

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Trump told reporters that "a lot of people" called him about the speaker position. When asked whether he would take the job, he said, "All I can say is we’ll do whatever is best for the country and for the Republican Party."

The former president, who is in New York for the state attorney general's business fraud lawsuit against him and his company, said his focus was "totally" on his presidential run. Trump added that the GOP has "some great people" for the speakership.

"I’ll do whatever it is to help, but my focus, my total focus is being president and, honestly, making America great again, because we are living in a country in decline," he said.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Wednesday that he plans to run for speaker of the House.

Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee who has gained national prominence over the years as an aggressive presence in committee hearings, confirmed his candidacy when asked by reporters if he plans to run for the leadership role, saying, "Yes."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said in a tweet Tuesday night that former President Donald Trump is the only speaker candidate she’s “currently supporting.”

“We can make him Speaker and then elect him President!” she wrote.

Rep. Troy E. Nehls, R-Texas, has also said he plans to nominate Trump for speaker of the House.

The speaker of the House does not need to be a member of Congress.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who became a national figure after he survived a brutal assassination attempt during a congressional baseball practice, has been making calls seeking to shore up support for a bid to succeed ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, according to two lawmakers who have spoken with Scalise.

The development isn’t surprising given that Scalise, the No. 2 GOP leader under McCarthy since 2019, is the front-runner in the race for speaker and has eyed the top job for years.

But the fact that Scalise, who has represented his Louisiana district since 2008, began reaching out to GOP colleagues so soon after McCarthy’s ouster suggests he is trying to box out other would-be challengers and be seen as the inevitable successor to McCarthy. The No. 3 leader, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., practically endorsed Scalise moments after McCarthy informed Republicans he would step aside after being removed.

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Former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., also has been directed to vacate his office in the Capitol, two Democratic aides told NBC News.

The news comes after former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said yesterday that she was told to move out of her office "immediately." McCarthy's office had made the decision to ask Pelosi to leave, a source familiar with the situation said.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused new interim Speaker Patrick McHenry on Tuesday night of kicking her out of her workspace in the Capitol just hours after the chamber’s abrupt change in leadership.

Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement that she was told she had to “immediately” move out of her so-called hideaway office in the Capitol.

“With all of the important decisions that the new Republican Leadership must address, which we are all eagerly awaiting, one of the first actions taken by the new Speaker Pro Tempore was to order me to immediately vacate my office in the Capitol,” Pelosi said in a statement, referring to McHenry, R-N.C., by his new title.

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The House voted Tuesday to oust Kevin McCarthy from the speaker’s chair, with Rep. Matt Gaetz and seven other conservatives joining all Democrats present to remove him. What happens next?

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Republican Kevin McCarthy made history Tuesday as the first person ever to be voted out of the House speaker’s office. Now there’s rampant speculation on Capitol Hill about who can cobble together the votes to succeed him.

For now, there is no consensus on who might be able to fill the huge vacancy in the speaker’s office. But while McCarthy’s top loyalists are furious over what happened Tuesday, there is no shortage of ambition in the House of Representatives.

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