Republican Kevin McCarthy removed as leader of the House of Representatives

For more than a century, the American Congress has not experienced such a motion of censure. Kevin McCarthy was ousted on Tuesday, October 3, from his post as Republican leader of the House of Representatives. The vote was successful thanks to 216 votes cast for his dismissal, including eight cast by the Republican camp.

Kevin McCarthy is the victim of fratricidal quarrels within his party. Un elected representative of the American hard right, Matt Gaetz, filed a motion to dismiss him, even though he is a member of the same party. This Florida elected official mainly criticizes Kevin McCarthy for having ignored the opposition of many conservatives to the provisional budget, finally voted on this weekend, and for having negotiated it behind the scenes with elected Democratic officials. Kevin McCarthy is also suspected by the right wing of his party of having concluded a “secret agreement” with President Joe Biden: this agreement would concern new aid granted to Ukraine, excluded from the budget voted in recent days.

This dismissal marks the entry of the lower house into a strong period of turbulence: a replacement for the Republican leader must be chosen, despite these frontal divisions in the conservative camp.