- In a historic first, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives has been voted out of office.
- On Tuesday, California Rep. Kevin McCarthy was relieved of his duties as House speaker after falling out of favor with Democrats and some Republicans.
- Republican Steve Scalise is the betting favorite to replace McCarthy at online betting sites.
According to BetOnline, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is in line to be the next speaker of the House after Speaker Kevin McCarthy was voted out. Currently, Scalise has even odds to be elected as the next Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
At even money, Scalise has an implied probability of 50% of being elected. The betting odds indicate that Scalise doesn’t have much competition. Following Scalise, Rep. Patrick McHenry and Rep. Elise Stefanik has the second-best odds at +500.
Interestingly enough, McCarthy is the third-likeliest Speaker of the House. Per BetOnline’s odds, McCarthy is +600 to regain his seat as speaker. However, McCarthy reportedly informed House Republicans that he will not run again.
On Tuesday, McCarthy was canned following a 216-210 vote. In a last-ditch effort, McCarthy and some of his colleagues introduced a vote to stymie his removal. However, the attempt failed and McCarthy was subsequently voted out of his position.
Rep. Matt Gaetz Behind Republicans Push To Unseat McCarthy
On Monday, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz started the formal process of removing McCarthy as the House speaker. Referred to as a “motion to vacate”, Gaetz proposed a vote to pull McCarthy from the House.
“I believe the basis for the motion to vacate is Kevin McCarthy’s repeated breach of the agreement that he made in January,” Gaetz claimed.
Gaetz disclosed several objections to McCarthy’s job as Speaker. In particular, Gaetz was not pleased with President Biden and McCarthy’s deal to increase the debt limit and higher spending over the next two years.
Additionally, Gaetz raised questions regarding McCarthy’s involvement in relying on votes from Democrats to pass a spending bill to prevent a government shutdown. On Saturday, President Biden signed a stopgap funding bill to avert a shutdown for at least the next 47 days.
Lastly, Gaetz has been critical of McCarthy’s rumored agreement with the White House to pass more government funding for Ukraine. With roughly a dozen Republicans siding with Gaetz, there was enough support to remove McCarthy.
With growing distrust from Democrats, McCarthy faced long odds to remain as the Speaker of the House. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi was absent from the vote, but clarified where the Democrat Party stood on the issue:
“The Speaker of the House is chosen by the Majority Party,” Pelosi wrote on X. “In this Congress, it is the responsibility of House Republicans to choose a nominee & elect the Speaker on the Floor. At this time there is no justification for a departure from this tradition. The House will be in order.”
At +600 odds, McCarthy has an implied probability of 14.3 percent of getting his speakership job back. However, according to his comments regarding not running, McCarthy has a 0 percent chance and his odds should be taken off the board.
Patrick McHenry Installed As Interim House Speaker
Until a vote to elect a new speaker is held, North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry will serve as the interim speaker. No official date has been held to elect a new speaker, but it could come as soon as next Wednesday.
In McHenry’s first act as speaker, he ordered Pelosi to vacate her Capitol hideaway office. At the moment, Pelosi serves as the Speaker Emerita after resigning from her position as House speaker in 2022.
McHenry claimed that her office is scheduled to be used for speaker space. The former speaker quickly denounced the request by McHenry.
“Office space doesn’t matter to me, but it seems to be important to them. Now that the new Republican Leadership has settled this important matter, let’s hope they get to work on what’s truly important for the American people,” said Pelosi.
McHenry has +500 odds of being elected as the House’s new speaker. In January, McHenry was at the top of McCarthy’s list of replacements in case of his absence. McHenry has been a longstanding ally of McCarthy.
Former President Donald Trump is eligible to be elected as the Speaker of the House, with at least one Republic is on the board with the idea. Texas Rep. Troy Nehls will reportedly file paperwork to nominate Trump as next Speaker of the House.
However, BetOnline does not currently offer odds on Trump becoming the next speaker.
