(The Center Square) — The votes of eight Republican representatives – including a Virginia congressman – together with House Democrats, enabled the historic ousting of Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday.
Virginia GOP Rep. Bob Good voted for McCarthy’s removal – the first time a speaker has been successfully removed from his position.
“We need a speaker who will fight for something, anything besides just staying speaker,” Good said in a speech from the floor on Tuesday.
Until then, Good was not the only Virginia representative in favor of a government shutdown should more conservative appropriations bills not pass. Republican Reps. Ben Cline and Morgan Griffith were also unhappy with the spending bills. On Saturday, the three Virginia representatives also voted against the House’s last-ditch effort to avoid a shutdown with what’s known as a Continuing Resolution.
“Continuing the bloated Pelosi spending levels and the chaos of Biden’s open border is unacceptable,” Cline posted on X on Saturday. “I will be voting NO on the 45-day clean CR today.”
But unseating McCarthy was a step too far for Cline, Griffith and Virginia’s other Republican representatives, who all voted to keep him in his position.
“Yesterday was a sad day for our democracy. I believe in leading by example and prioritizing the mission of the team. Clearly the same cannot be said for eight of my colleagues who chose to side with Democrats and paralyze our conservative agenda,” Rep. Jen Kiggans told The Center Square in an email via office spokesperson Reilly Richardson.
While McCarthy was not conservative enough for the eight Republicans who voted against him, House Democrats were happy for a chance to replace him. Virginia Democrats voted unanimously with all other House Democrats to sack McCarthy.
The Continuing Resolution will keep the government running as usual until Nov. 17. Meanwhile, Congress must find a way to pass 12 appropriations bills to avoid another potential shutdown.
More immediately, the House needs to find a new speaker. A new speaker would require a majority of votes from all members present when votes are cast.
