On October 3, 2023, Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his position after a historic vote. The decision to oust McCarthy, who received the title of Speaker in January after 15 grueling rounds of voting, came primarily from a group of eight influential GOP representatives. 

One of those eight representatives, Matt Gaetz of Florida, commented on the situation. 

“Chaos is Speaker McCarthy. Chaos is not somebody we can trust with their word,” Gaetz said.

 McCarthy’s time as Speaker was marked with tumultuous times such as the narrowly avoided government shutdown, the death of California senator Diane Feinstein, and the President Biden Impeachment case. McCarthy, in his short term as Speaker, made extensive promises to all sides of the political spectrum and failed to back up many of them. For this reason, at the end of his time as Speaker, he was faced with little support against the wave of critics calling for his removal. 

He has since been replaced by Interim Speaker, Patrick McHenry, who was selected by McCarthy in his line of succession. He will remain speaker until the house has selected a new Speaker which, as of right now, remains unclear of who has enough votes to secure the position.