Thanks to a motion from a nihilist alleged child sex trafficker from Florida, Matt Gaetz, California Republican Kevin McCarthy has lost the House Speakership, becoming the first House leader in the history of the nation to lose his seat by being ousted by his Party during the session.
Having reached the 214 vote threshold to account for "half-plus-one" of all the members present, McCarthy becomes the fifth Republican to hold the Speaker's office in the last quarter century and the fifth to lose the job. Newt Gingrich was drummed out on an ethics charge; Denny Hassert left office after being exposed as a child sex predator; John Boehner and Paul Ryan resigned in what can only be described as a varying mix of shame, ineffectiveness, exhaustion and disgust. Over that time, Nancy Pelosi was the only Democratic Speaker, having served for eight years before Hakeem Jeffries took over as Democratic leaders in the current session.
Republicans voting against McCarthy included the motion sponsor, Matt Gaetz, as well as Andy Biggs (AZ), Ken Buck (CO), Tim Burchett (TN), Eli Crane (AZ), Bob Good (VA), Nancy Mace (SC), and Matt Rosendale (MT). The final count after the clerk caught up with those member who missed their official slot to vote was 216-210.