How could hardline US House Republicans strip Kevin McCarthy of his
speakership?
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[September 26, 2023]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Republican U.S. House of
Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy struggles to negotiate a deal to
keep the government open, he faces a challenge from his right flank,
with hardline members of his caucus threatening to oust him as their
leader.
To do so, they would need to invoke what's called the "motion to
vacate."
WHAT IS THE MOTION TO VACATE?
The motion to vacate is the House's procedure to remove its speaker. The
chamber's current rules allow any one member, Democrat or Republican, to
introduce the motion. If it is introduced as a "privileged" resolution,
the House must consider it at some point, although it could be delayed
with procedural votes.
If the motion to vacate comes to the House floor for a vote, it would
only need a simple majority to pass. Republicans currently control the
House with 221 seats to 212 Democrats, meaning if McCarthy wants to keep
his speaker's gavel he cannot afford to lose more than four votes.
WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND TO THIS RULE?
McCarthy endured a brutal 15 rounds of voting in January before being
elected as speaker, during which he agreed to multiple concessions
increasing the power of Republican hardliners.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Sep/26/images/ads/current/peasley_sda_PROMGRAD_2023.png)
One was the decision to allow just one member to put forward a motion to
vacate, which meant that hardliners could threaten McCarthy's
speakership at any time.
This was a change from the rules in place under his Democratic
predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, when a majority of one party needed to
support a motion to vacate to bring it to the floor.
WHO HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT FILING A MOTION TO VACATE?
Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, a hardline conservative from
Florida and perpetual thorn in McCarthy's side, has repeatedly
threatened to file a motion to vacate. The speaker has been unfazed.
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![](../images/092623PIX/news_q94.jpg)
U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) delivers a statement on
allegations surrounding U.S. President Joe Biden and his son Hunter
Biden, as the House of Representatives returns from its summer break
facing a looming deadline to avoid a government shutdown while
spending talks continue on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S.,
September 12, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
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In a Sept. 14 closed-door meeting of House Republicans, McCarthy
dared Gaetz to bring a motion to the floor.
Others including Representatives Dan Bishop and Eli Crane have also
suggested they would support a motion to vacate.
HAS THE MOTION TO VACATE BEEN USED BEFORE?
The motion was first used in 1910, when then-Republican Speaker
Joseph Cannon put forward the motion himself to force detractors in
his own party to make a decision on whether they supported him or
not, according to the House Archives. The motion failed.
Then-Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich was threatened with a motion
to vacate in 1997. Although he managed to tamp down resistance and
avoid an actual resolution being filed, he resigned in 1998 after
disappointing results in the midterm elections that year.
Republican then-Representative Mark Meadows in 2015 filed a motion
to vacate against Republican Speaker John Boehner. It did not come
to a vote but Boehner resigned anyway a few months later, citing the
challenges of managing a burgeoning hardline conservative faction of
his party.
(Reporting by Moira Warburton; Editing by Scott Malone and Rosalba
O'Brien)
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