The House of Representatives voted to remove Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy on Oct. 2. This leaves Congress in an unprecedented climate, as they have never been without a speaker before. What occurs will set a precedent for the United States and test the efficacy of the Constitution. As of Oct. 17, nothing has been decided. 

“The House voted 216-210 to oust McCarthy, with a handful of conservatives joining Democrats to remove him,” digital curator Matt Cudahy said. “Seven members were absent.”

The 216 votes were a combination of Republican and Democratic House members, which provided the required majority needed to oust McCarthy. The majority of votes were lowered from 218 to 216 as seven members were absent. 

“Most will point to McCarthy striking a deal with Democrats to pass a 45-day stopgap funding bill on Saturday to avert a federal government shutdown as the final nail in his coffin,” Cudahy reported. 

Currently, the House comprises 221 Republicans, 212 Democrats and two vacant positions. Without an overwhelming majority, the “deal” McCarthy cut with Biden was enough to stir up the votes needed to actually pass an ousting. This caused a disruption in the Republican party, as now they must work to elect another Speaker.

“The House is without a speaker, the person who, according to the Constitution, is required to be its leader,” Aditi Sangal, Mike Hayes and Jack Forrest said. “That means the chamber is essentially paralyzed until it can settle on a new speaker.”

This creates a mini-government shutdown within Congress, as none of the House’s obligations or votes can occur without the speaker. Right now, the House has 435 government officials who are working to find a leader to avoid a government shutdown.

“Candidates will make their case to the Republican Conference on Tuesday and will hold an internal secret ballot on Wednesday morning to officially select their nominee,” Christina Moore and Chukwukpee Nzegwu said.

The nominee will be selected by the Republican Party. The republican party holds the majority of members in the House of Representatives, therefore they will get to nominate the electors for the speaker of the house. 

“Interim speaker McHenry says the goal is to elect a new speaker by the end of the week,” Sangal, Hayes and Forrest continued.

Looking into the future, a new speaker has not been chosen yet, but Jim Jordan, a republican candidate as well as Hakeem Jefferies have been made official candidates. As of now, no set date for the final vote on the speaker position has been decided on. The House heads into future weeks hopeful, but with no set plans.