House Republicans move to change rules for vacating speakership 1 year after McCarthy’s ousting

House Republicans are expected to change House rules in order to make it more difficult to oust a speaker of the House, just one year after a single GOP lawmaker initiated the first-ever removal of a member from the position.

Former Rep. Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the House in January 2023 after a tumultuous four days and 15 votes. However, the infighting did not end there. House rules currently allow for one lawmaker to introduce a motion to vacate the speakership and initiate a vote on the floor. When former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced such a motion to vacate McCarthy, enough support led to his ousting.

This led to the House being without an official speaker for two months in 2023, prompting questions about whether one lawmaker alone should have the power to introduce such a motion. Under the new proposed House rules package, Republicans are seeking to change this rule by requiring a lawmaker to obtain eight co-sponsors in order to introduce a motion to vacate the speakership.

According to the proposed rule, a member and their co-sponsors must be from the majority party, meaning that only Republicans, who currently hold the majority, would have the power to introduce a vacate motion for the next two years. Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern criticized the proposed changes, stating that they would “shield the Speaker from accountability to the entire chamber.”

The proposed rules package will be voted on once a speaker is elected and the 119th Congress is gaveled in. The first speaker vote is set to take place this Friday, with current House Speaker Mike Johnson seeking re-election for the position. While there is currently one GOP member, Rep. Thomas Massie, who has stated he will not vote for Johnson, the speaker has received a strong endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump.

Overall, these proposed changes aim to make it more difficult to oust a speaker of the House, ensuring that the process is more deliberative and requires broader support within the majority party. It remains to be seen how these changes will impact the dynamics and power structures within the House of Representatives.