Kevin McCarthy becomes first person ever to be outed as US House Speaker, says ‘don’t regret standing up for…’

Kevin McCarthy became the first person in 134 years to be ousted as speaker of the US House of Representatives after a rebellion by Republican hardliners led by Matt Gaetz. McCarthy will not seek the speakership again in the next election, which is expected to be held on 11 October.

McCarthy was ousted by a group of far-right conservatives with the help of Democrats who failed to bail out the former speaker after he refused to make concessions in exchange for their help in the vote.

Although McCarthy enjoyed the support of most Republican House members, eight detractors, most of whom had tried to stop him from becoming speaker in January this year, sealed his fate, AP reported.

Speaker after the vote on Tuesday, McCarthy was quoted as saying by AFP, "I ended up being the 55th speaker of the House -- one of the greatest honors. I loved every minute.And the one thing I will tell you is doing the right thing isn't always easy, but it is necessary. I don't regret standing up for choosing governance over grievance."

Why was Kevin McCarthy ousted? 

McCarthy had angered some Republican members after he backed a bill to fund the government running till November 17, averting a potential shutdown but not imposing any of the spending cuts or changes to border security that his hardline colleagues had called for.

The bill, which was approved by the Senate on a broad bipartisan basis and signed into law by Biden, is meant to give lawmakers more time to agree on a deal to fund the government through September 30, 2024.

Florida House member Matt Gaetz speaking to reporters after McCarthy's ouster said, “The reason Kevin McCarthy went down today is because nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy… Kevin McCarthy has made multiple contradictory promises, and when they all came due, he lost."

Gaetz is one of a group of about two dozen hardliners who forced McCarthy to endure a withering 15 rounds of voting in January before he was elected speaker.