It is widely reported that history was made today. Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has been formally ousted from that post. This is the first such ouster in our history. All Democrats voted against him, and enough rebellious Republicans jointed them to constitute a majority in the narrowly divided House.
House rules require the body to immediately take up voting for a new speaker, and to work on that issue until some candidate can get a majority to vote for him or her. At this point people who follow the issue closely can think of no Republican who can achieve that majority.
Those who voted to oust McCarthy seek to use their power to stymie forward progress until they get at least some of what they want on cutting government spending and stemming illegal immigration.
Expect a drawn-out process before a new speaker is selected. We live in interesting times.
Later: McCarthy has announced that he will not run for the Speaker post again.
