October 4, 2023 - House searches for new speaker after McCarthy ousted | CNN Politics (2024)

As Kevin McCarthy was on the brinkof losing his speakership, some of his allies delivered a not-so-veiled threat to GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina: If you vote to oust McCarthy, the party might not be willing to help raise money for your race.

The warning to Mace, which was described by a source familiar with the conversation, is a sign of just how seriouslythe speaker dramahas rankled the Republican party, with money often used as a powerful carrot – or stick – in Washington.

Yet Mace, a Republican who could face a competitive race and will need a well-funded campaign war chest to win reelection, ultimatelyjoined seven other GOP lawmakers and all Democrats to sink McCarthy. And it’s not the only repercussion she could now be facing for her career-defining moment of defiance: Sources told CNN that there’s discussion among members on the Republican Governance Group about voting to kick her out of the moderate-leaning group.

It’s just one of many examples of the fallout from Tuesday’s stunning vote to remove the sitting speaker, which has reverberated through both sides of the Capitol and left a bitterly divided GOP scrambling to pick up the pieces. Much of the furor is directed at Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, the ringleader of the McCarthy rebellion. But Republicans are also turning their fire on their Democratic colleagues as well, furious that they sided with Gaetz to throw the House into chaos and let McCarthy be punished for funding the government with their votes.

And it all comes as a GOP leadership scramble to succeed McCarthy has begun to take shape, even as rank-and-file Republicans warn the speaker candidates that there is ample work that must be done to repair the frayed relations within their badly divided conference.

Rep. Kelly Armstrong, a North Dakota Republican and a close McCarthy ally, said there are a “lot of raw nerves” and that the next speaker candidates must make clear that they will “never” allow a single GOP member to oust a sitting speaker again.

The high-stakes drama has not only sparked threats to remove GOP colleagues from the conference but also put key bipartisan working relationships in jeopardy ahead of another looming government funding deadline and prompted serious internal conversations about overhauling the House rules, further complicating any candidates’ bid to win the gavel.

“There was a meeting last night, as you may know, of Republicans and that room would have devolved into I think physical attacks on one another if people stayed in there for a long period of time,” said Louisiana Rep. Garret Graves, a McCarthy ally. “People are mad … It is justified for them to be frustrated by what happened yesterday.”

Read more about the in-fighting within the House GOP

Rep. Matt Gaetz speaks to reporters following a House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol on October 3, 2023, in Washington, DC.

Another freshman Republican representative said he’s open to expelling Rep. Matt Gaetz as he didn’t hold back in his criticism of the Florida Republican who led the charge to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and throw the chamber into paralysis.

Ohio Rep. Max Miller said Gaetz “is only doing this for himself and I believe that he should be looked at for an expulsion,” but he added that he has not made up his mind on how he would vote.

Rep. Mike Lawler, a GOP freshman from a swing district in New York, also said he supports calls to expel Gaetz from the House.

Miller said that he thinks it’s going to be “incredibly tough” for the GOP to hold onto its majority after the actions of the last couple days.

“I’m gonna stand here and tell you by the actions that have taken place this week I’m not hopeful to keep the majority. I’m not hopeful to win back the Senate,” he said.

Miller also said that he is “very firm” on limiting the powerful tool used byGaetz to push McCarthy from the speakership. It currently just takes one member to use the tool to force a vote on ousting the speaker, which was something McCarthy agreed to back in January when he cut a deal with hardliners to win the speakership on the 15thround of voting.

Gaetz and other hardliners have insisted that any future speaker keep this rule in place.

But more moderate members want the rule changed to raise the threshold so any one member can’t cause deep instability to the institution and throw the chamber into a state of paralysis as Gaetz did in his successful push to oust McCarthy.

GOP senators expressed concerns Wednesday that the paralysis in the House after eight hardliner Republicans joined with Democrats to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the speakership reflects poorly on the party and undermines their ability to govern.

Senators also criticized the motion to vacate mechanism that gave Rep. Matt Gaetz the power to force a vote on ousting McCarthy.

Here’s what some senators told CNN:

The United States Chamber of Commerce expressed deep concern on Wednesday about the historic ouster of Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House of Representatives.

Chief policy officer Neil Bradley said the leadership vacuum creates an “almost unprecedented level of uncertainty because there are things that must get done in the next 45 days.”

Business groups, including the chamber, had been notably silent since Tuesday when McCarthy became the first speaker in US history to be ejected.

The ouster raises the risk of a government shutdown when funding lapses on November 17, he said, while also expressing concern about the impact on aid to Ukraine, a key priority for the business community.

“Part of what advantages American business is American global leadership. Defending a free country like Ukraine is an important element in global leadership,” Bradley said. “To the extent that aid to Ukraine is being walked back, it begins to cede US global leadership — on all fronts.”

Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the influential Partnership for New York City, which represents hundreds of NYC CEOs, expressed confidence in speaker pro tempore Patrick McHenry.

“New York City business has a long-standing relationship” with McHenry, Wylde told CNN in an email. “We are hopeful that he and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will work together to restore constructive, bipartisan resolution of the budget and other key issues facing the country, including the migrant crisis.”

The Business Roundtable, another powerful business group, declined requests to comment on the ouster of McCarthy.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks to reporters at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he will continue to work with Rep. Kevin McCarthy on initiatives put in place before he was removed as speaker.

Jeffries said he and McCarthy have had a “respectful, communicative and forward-looking relationship” since January, according to a statement.

He said McCarthy initiated the formation of a “bipartisan Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party,” the statement said. Jeffries wrote he plans to continue to analyze the ties between the two countries.

As speaker, McCarthy also advocated for the “thoughtful examination of the rise of artificial intelligence” —something Jeffries said he will keep working on, according to the statement.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy was behindinterim Speaker Patrick McHenry’s move to kick former House Speaker Nancy Pelosiout ofheroffice space, two Republican sources tell CNN.

GOP Rep. Garret Graves told reporters Wednesday that McCarthy is getting the office that McHenry has ordered Pelosi to vacate.

A sourceclose to Pelosi saysit was retaliation for Democrats siding against McCarthy in the speaker’s vote Tuesday. The unofficial offices are located near the House floor.

Graves also blamed Democrats for voting McCarthy out of office.

“I don’t know what they’re complaining about. They created this situation,” Graves said.

McCarthy and McHenry’s did not respond to requests for comment.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer leave a meeting with Senate Democrats at the Capitol Building on September 30, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer again attacked House Republican infighting, saying that the move to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy is proof that GOP lawmakers should not have relied on the “hard MAGA right” for their majority.

“Yesterday, a small band of MAGA extremists plunged Congress into pandemonium. For the first time in history, the speaker has been removed from his position at the hands of radicals that he empowered from day one,” said Schumer.

Schumer called for the next speaker to accept bipartisanship as the way forward, rather than relying solely on Republican votes for their policy proposals, and praised McCarthy for cutting deals to avoid a debt default and a government shutdown.

“To his credit, I will say this. Speaker McCarthy, both on shutting down the government and on default of the debt, at the end of the day realized he had to work in a bipartisan way to do what’s right for America. Well, the need for bipartisanship will not change – we’ll need bipartisanship to keep the government open.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks with members of the media following passage of a short-term funding bill on September 30, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell praised former Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday and urged whoever is the next speaker to get rid of the motion to vacate – the procedural tool that GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz used to force a vote to oust McCarthy.

McConnell warned that the procedural tool puts whoever serves as speaker “in a hammerlock of dysfunction.”

Asked if he’s concerned about funding the government with the House speakership in limbo, McConnell said, “Well I think the obvious answer is we need to get a speaker and hopefully we’ll get one by next week … to do that job, for anyone, you have to get rid of the motion to vacate because it puts whoever the speaker is in a hammerlock of dysfunction, potential dysfunction.”

McConnell declined to say if he has a preference for a particular speaker candidate and did not comment specifically on whether it bothers him that Rep. Jim Jordan has indicated he does not support further Ukraine aid.

When asked those two questions, McConnell said, “Job one right now in the Senate is to get back on the appropriations bills, get as many finished the majority leader will let us. All of these other issues are not going away. They will be dealt with in due time.”

Rep. Mike Lawler, a GOP freshman from a swing district in New York, told CNN on Wednesday that he supports calls to expel Rep. Matt Gaetz from the House Republican conference.

Lawler called Gaetz’s conduct “disgraceful,” following the ouster Tuesday of Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker.

“In my opinion, yes,” he said when asked if he would support kicking the Florida lawmaker out of the House GOP.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan talks to reporters in the Capitol on Wednesday.

Rep. Jim Jordan, who is running for House speaker, told CNN that he would leave it up to the Republican conference writ large on what to do about the powerful tool used by Rep. Matt Gaetz to push Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the speakership.

“That’s up to the conference, that’s not my call,” Jordan told CNN’s Manu Raju when asked about whether he would change the motion to vacate.

It currently just takes one member to use the tool to force a vote on ousting the speaker, which was something McCarthy agreed to back in January when he cut a deal with hardliners to win the speakership in the 15th round of voting.

Gaetz and other hardliners have insisted that any future speaker keep this rule in place.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, center, listens as Rep. Kevin McCarthy speaks to him on the House Chamber floor during the fourth day of House Speaker elections in January.

A flashpoint is emerging within the GOP over the powerful tool Rep. Matt Gaetz used to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the speakership.

The motion to vacate can currently be called up by just one member — something McCarthy agreed to back in January as he cut a deal to win the speakership on the 15th ballot.

Hardliners who are part of the House Freedom Caucus insist that the next speaker must keep that rule in place.

But more moderate members want the rule changed to raise the threshold so any one member can’t cause deep instability to the institution and throw the chamber into a state of paralysis as Gaetz did in his successful push to oust McCarthy.

The Republican Main Street Caucus, a group of more moderate members, issued a statement Wednesday saying the next speaker “must explain to us how what happened on Tuesday will never happen again.”

President Joe Biden talks with reporters in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Wednesday.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday said the idea that he could change former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s point of view on negotiations was “not reasonable.”

Biden responded to McCarthy’s comments that the two hadn’t spoken in a long time.

“We had two agreements we shook hands on,” Biden said. “I assumed he was working with — I knew he was working with Democrats in the House and Senate, it wasn’t for me to do anything, if he wanted to talk to me I was available.”

The president was also asked if the dysfunction on Capitol Hill concerned him, to which he responded: “The dysfunction always concerns me.”

“The programs that we’ve argued over and we’ve passed bipartisanly, I’m not concerned they’re going to come in and try to undo them — although there will be some.”

He said he was sure that “half a dozen or more extreme MAGA Republicans” would like to “eliminate anything I’ve done,” but he added he didn’t think that would happen.

Asked for his advice to the next speaker, Biden said that was above his pay grade.

President Joe Biden speaks from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Wednesday.

President Joe Biden called for a new Speaker of the House to be chosen quickly so members of Congress can get back to work.

Biden said he knows it will take time for Republicans to fill the vacant speakership, but “we have a lot of work today and the American people expect us to get it done.”

That cooperation across the aisle prompted far-right members of the Republican party to introduce the motion to vacate McCarthy from the post.

“More than anything we need to change the poisonous atmosphere in Washington,” Biden said.

He said that both parties have “strong disagreements,” but he added, “we need to stop seeing each other as enemies.” Biden said both sides need to talk and work together.

He pointed to two instances in the last six months when Republicans and Democrats came together on a bipartisan basis — to avoid a default on the nation’s debt and keep the government open.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise speaks at a press conference in the Capitol Building in July 2022.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced his bid to run for House speaker in a letter to colleagues on Wednesday.

Earlier today, Rep. Jim Jordan also announced that he’ll run to be the next House speaker, aiming to replace Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted Tuesday.

McCarthy said he will not run again.

Rep. Chip Roy arrives to a lunch meeting with members of the Texas Republican Congressional delegation at the Capitol on Wednesday.

Asked whether he believes the Republican conference in the House will solidify around a candidate for House speaker by next week, Texas Rep. Chip Roy said, “Better damn well be. We got to get it done.”

Roy laid the blame for the continuing decline in tenure of House speakers at the feet of Democrats, saying that it isn’t the fault of Republicans —who themselves have taken out their last three speakers — but rather Democrats‘ unwillingness to work with the speaker.

Roy continued: “So yeah, we have 221 Republicans. And if you lose a handful, because you have disagreements, it gets a little harder to do. But I’m willing to have that discussion and figure out how to move it forward. Democracy in a republic is messy. So we’re going to keep fighting to do it.”

Roy called acting Speaker Patrick McHenry’s current position “largely ministerial” and likely short-lived.

“That is a role that is statutorily provided for that will be largely ministerial. We’re just going to keep the House functioning, but we’re going to come back next week and choose a speaker,” he said.

Rep. Kevin Hern speaks with CNN's Manu Raju on Wednesday.

GOP Rep. Kevin Hern told CNN he is considering a run for leadership, suggesting a speaker’s run is on the table and not ruling out a run for majority leader.

“I’m doing what I’ve always been doing. I’ve had a lot of conversations about leadership. So I’m going to go listen to the Texas delegation,” Hern told CNN when asked if he would run for speaker.

Asked about his pitch, he said people “want a different face.”

“They want somebody to put policies over personalities. And listening a lot and see how we can move forward. Whoever the new speaker is has to move appropriations bills very quickly,” he added.

Hern said it “was very early” and didn’t rule out a run for majority leader.

Following a meeting with the Texas delegation on Wednesday, Hern dodged questions on whether he would support aid to Ukraine.

“First we have to have some information it doesn’t do any good to keep putting it on the floor without giving some conversation about why we’re doing it,” Hern said when asked about Ukraine aid.

On the motion to vacate, he said he is fine with the current setup and is “not afraid of it.” That would not be part of his platform but he says if members want to change that rule he would be fine with it.

Rep. Nancy Mace talks with reporters in the Capitol in September.

Reps. Matt Rosendale and Nancy Mace, two Republicans who voted to remove Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, both told CNN they are keeping their options open as to who they’ll back now for the speakership.

“I’m excited to hear people announcing they’re going to run,” Rosendale told CNN. “That demonstrates what we’ve been saying since January: that once the King is removed, you’re gonna start seeing names crop up.”

Mace also told CNN she is “totally open.”

“And honestly, the bar is set pretty low: do what we say we’re gonna do and tell the truth,” she added.

Mace said she’s planning to meet with everyone who is going to throw their hat in the ring, and is arranging to meet with both Rep. Jim Jordan and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise this week.

Rep. Matt Rosendale talks to reporters in the Capitol in September.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin attends a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, DC, in April.

Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin slammed the eight House GOP members who voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker.

He lamented the standstill in the House, saying that this vacancy will mean they will not complete their consideration of spending bills by mid-November, and they’ll have to pass another short-term spending bill.

“I think all of us here believe that by now, because of what’s happened, we’re gonna do another CR (continuing resolution),” Mullin said.

House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise speaks to the press as House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer and House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik listen at the Capitol in July.

With Majority Leader Steve Scalise now vying to become the next speaker, current GOP whip Rep. Tom Emmer is making calls to line up support to potentially become the next majority leader.

As the Texas delegation meeting wrapped, Emmer confirmed he is running for majority leader and that he has endorsed Scalise for speaker.

That would open up the whip’s spot which Rep. Guy Reschenthaler confirmed he’s running for.

Meanwhile, House GOP conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik is also calling colleagues and allies about potentially moving up the chain in leadership, a source familiar told CNN.

Rep. Jim Jordan arrives for a meeting with the Texas Republican House delegation on Wednesday.

See Also

These 8 Republicans stood apart to remove Kevin McCarthy as House speaker

House Speaker candidate Rep. Jim Jordan told CNN on Wednesday that he is against an aid package for Ukraine.

This is a significant development if Jordan ultimately wins the speakership since he is going further than former speaker Kevin McCarthy against Ukraine aid.

“What I understand is at some point, we’re going to have to deal with this appropriation process in the right way, we’re going to try to do that in the next 41 days.The most pressing issue on Americans mind is not Ukraine — it is the border situation, and it is crime on the streets,” Jordan added.

Rep. Jim Jordan is attending the Texas delegation GOP lunch this afternoon, along with Reps. Steve Scalise and Kevin Hern.

Candidates are scheduled to come and speak at the meeting every15 or 20 minutes.

This is the current order of speakers:

Rep. Steve Scalise

Rep. Jim Jordan

Rep. Kevin Hern

Rep. Patrick McHenry talks with Rep. Garret Graves during a news conference with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the US Capitol in May.

GOP Rep. Garret Graves said he has warned his colleague and now interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry that he may want to acclimate himself to a longer slog in his current role.

“I told Patrick McHenry … you may want to get comfortable in your position of authority, because I think that this this could be a pretty arduous process. There are a lot of raw emotions. I’ve spoken to probably 40 members of Congress this morning — a lot of raw emotion out there,” he said.

Graves wouldn’t say if he thought the conference would rally around House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, adding, “anything can happen.”

And when asked if he believed if Rep. Jim Jordan could be the next speaker, Graves suggested there are a number of options.

But he did warn that the conference needs to make a decision before they go to the floor to vote on the next speaker, which is expected to happen next week after the House is back in session.

On Gaetz: Graves blasted Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for “throwing a grenade” in the middle of the House floor and arguing that tensions in the House GOP are so high right now that members needed to keep conference brief last night to ensure there wasn’t a physical altercation.

Now that the House is awaiting a new speaker, Graves also warned that there can only be limited action. While he said he believes committees can continue their work, they cannot file new bills on the floor or refer bills back to committee.

“The House is frozen,” he said.

Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he arrives for his civil fraud trial in New York on Wednesday.

Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he did not encourage Rep. Matt Gaetz to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“No, I did not,” Trump said Wednesday leaving the New York courtroom, when asked whether he had encouraged the Florida Republican who forced the vote Tuesday that led to McCarthy’s ouster.

Gaetz, wholed the effort to oust McCarthy, was one of eight Republicans who voted against the California Republican.

The US Capitol is seen at sunrise on September 30.

Senators from both sides of the aisle expressed concern Wednesday about the ramifications for funding the government and providing aid to Ukraine after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the speakership by eight members of his own party.

Republicans:

Democrats:

Rep. Jim Jordan arrives for a meeting of the Republican House caucus in the US Capitol on September 30.

Rep. Jim Jordan on Wednesday became the first Republican to publicly say he’ll run to be the next House speaker, aiming to replace Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted Tuesday.

In a new letter to House GOP colleagues, he officially announced his candidacy for speaker and made his pitch.

“We are at a critical crossroad in our nation’s history. Now is the time for our Republican conference to come together to keep our promises to Americans. The problems we face are challenging, but they are not insurmountable. We can focus on the changes that improve the country and unite us in offering real solutions. But no matter what we do, we must do it together as a conference. I respectfully ask for your support for Speaker of the House of Representatives,” he said in the letter obtained by CNN.

The Ohio Republican had said based on his early conversations with colleagues about running — which CNN first reported — his support is “strong.”

Jordan downplayed concerns he may be too conservative for some of the more moderate members of the GOP.

“I think we are conservative-center-right party. I’m the guy who can help unite that. My politics are entirely consistent with where Republicans are across the country,” he told CNN.

Sen. Mitch McConnell speaks from the Senate floor of the Capitol on Wednesday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell praised former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s tenure in Congress, particularly his handling of the debt ceiling crisis this spring.

“He had all the qualities of an effective representative and speaker, and I’m not sure anyone could have predicted just how much these qualities would come in handy over the past nine months,” McConnell said.

McConnell added that McCarthy had handled his ousting “with grace and with gratitude.”

“He can rest assured that his colleagues, myself included, will continue to draw on his talents and optimism in the days that lie ahead,” said the minority leader.

Kevin McCarthy’s tenure as House speaker lasted just 269 days before he was ousted Tuesday. The tally in the House on a vote for his removal was 216 to 210, with eight Republicans siding with Democrats to remove him from the speakership.

The last speaker to serve less than a consecutive year in total was nearly 150 years ago in 1876 (Michael C. Kerr).

Here’s a look at how McCarthy’s speakership compares to others in US history:

Sen. Chuck Schumer speaks from the Senate floor in the Capitol on Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized House Republican infighting after they ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday, and warned the vacancy will bring all legislating and efforts to fund the government to a standstill.

The ouster was “a failure entirely of the House Republicans’ own doing,” Schumer said.

“MAGA extremism is a poison that the House GOP has refused to confront for years. And until the mainstream House Republicans deal with this issue, the chaos will continue,” he added.

Schumer said all legislating will be at a standstill until the next speaker is elected, with the new deadline to fund the government set on November 17.

Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he arrives for the third day of his civil fraud trial in New York on Wednesday.

Former President Donald Trump didn’t endorse a successor to Kevin McCarthy when asked about the House speaker’s vacancy, but he said there were a lot of great candidates.

On his way into the courtroom to attend the third day of his New York civil fraud trial, Trump did not say anything about the ouster of McCarthy who was removed in a historic vote on Tuesday and said afterward he would not run again to be speaker again.

Some Republicans, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have suggested Trump should become House speaker (the speaker does not have to be a member of Congress). But Trump shot down the notion.

Rep. Patrick McHenry speaks to members of the media at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Tuesday night.

Interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry would not take questions as he went to and from the chamber, other than to say he was “hearing from members” over the day.

Ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy was required to submit a confidential list to the clerk of people “in the order in which each shall act as Speaker pro tempore in the case of a vacancy,” according to House rules. With McCarthy suddenly out of his leadership job, the number-one name on that list – in this case, McHenry – became the interim speaker.

As speaker pro tempore, the Republican from North Carolina can only recess the House, adjourn the chamber and recognize speaker nominations.

Rep. Kevin Hern talks to reporters inside the US Capitol on September 19.

Rep. Kevin Hern, the leader of the Republican Study Committee, and his team touched base with about 50 members last night as he is still gauging whether there is a lane for him in the race for speaker, a source familiar tells CNN.

The feedback: It’s unclear.

Hern, who is not currently in GOP leadership but does lead the influential committee, is seen as maybe a Goldilocks option between conservative firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan and Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

But a source familiar told CNN there are still some members raisingwhether he has the experience necessary for the job in this moment. Hern has not officially announced his intentions yet and is waiting to see how the field develops.

Rep. Steny Hoyer is seen inside the US Capitol in September.

House Republican leadership has kicked Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer out of his Capitol hideaway office, his office confirms to CNN.

The move indicates the lengths to which Republicans are already seeking revenge on Democrats for voting to remove Kevin McCarthy from House speakership. They similarly booted Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi from her Capitol office Tuesday.

A Republican aide for the House Administration Committee, which overseas office space,told CNN this was not a request made by the committee.

The Speaker's gavel rests on the podium in the House Chamber of the US Capitol after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker of the House in January.

It is still unclear exactly who is running for the top three Republican positions, according to multiple GOP sources.

Steve Scalise, Kevin Hern and Jim Jordan have been talking to their colleagues since last night and are weighing a run, according to GOP sources, but it’s unclear if all three will end up running for speaker or if they seek different leadership positions.

Scalise could be seen as an heir apparent because he’s been the No. 2, but by no means is he a lock. Hern and Jordan may opt to run for other positions, or could run for speaker.And other candidates could emerge as well, including potentially interim speaker Patrick McHenry.

The GOP moderates will be a key bloc of voters and none of the three are moderates, so it’s possible other candidates emerge as well. Also, the current GOP Whip Tom Emmer is seen as a potential candidate for majority leader andMcHenrycould run for that as well, the sources said. But neither have declared their candidacy.

It’s still unclear who will run for what — and things should become clearer over the next couple days.

What to look out for: On Tuesday, Republicans is expected to conduct a candidate forum. The GOP conference will nominate their candidate for speaker and pick their new leadership team sometime next week— which only requires a majority vote. Then the full House will vote for the new speaker. The timing of the full floor vote is still unclear.

Top row: Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee and Elijah Crane of Arizona. Bottom row: Matt Gaetz of Florida, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Matt Rosendale of Montana.

A group of eight House Republicans joined with Democrats Tuesdayin a historic voteto remove Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker.

The House will now have to elect a new speaker.

The vote in the House of Representatives on the motion to vacate was 216-210, with Florida Rep. Matt Gaetzleading the effort. Because of the GOP’srazor-thin majorityin the House and a Democratic conference united against him, McCarthy needed the support of nearly all of his party’s members to keep the gavel.

It was not immediately clear who would replace the California Republican, and GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina was named speaker in the interim.

Here are the House Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy:

CNN’s Clare Foran, Melanie Zanona, Haley Talbot, Kristin Wilson and Annie Grayer contributed to this report.

Left to right: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer.

After the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, here are the Republicans who are considering running for speaker or who are being courted to run.

The candidate forum for GOP members to make their case is on Tuesday.

After workers appeared to be removing the sign above the speaker’s office that bears Kevin McCarthy’s name in the Capitol building, the carpenters and their ladder moved away.The sign remains in place.

Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy walks back into the office of the Speaker of the House after holding a press conference Tuesday night.

Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy speaks to reporters in Washington, DC, after he was ousted on Tuesday.

Kevin McCarthy said he has not thought about resigning after being voted out of his speakership on Tuesday.

He said he knew becoming Speaker of the House would be challenging, especially after making concessions that allowed one member to bring a motion to vacate him from the post.

Referring to relying on some Democratic cooperation to pass a stopgap measure to keep the government open for 45 days over the weekend, McCarthy said “I know they would make a motion on me.”

Rep. Kevin McCarthy speaks to reporters after he was voted out as of Speaker of the House on Tuesday, October 3, 2023.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy said that even though he is no longer the Speaker of the House, he does not regret the choices that led to his ouster from the position.

McCarthy said being the speaker was “one of the greatest honors” and that he leaves the post with a “sense of pride, accomplishment, and yes, optimism.”

The California lawmaker said he “took a risk for theAmerican public” on Saturday when he successfully engineered a last-minute bipartisan effort to avert a government shutdown. That reliance on Democratic votes topass a continuing resolution opened up a fight with the right wing of his conference

Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is surrounded by staff, security and journalists as he walks through Statuary Hall after he was ousted at the Capitol on October 3, 2023, in Washington, DC.

Kevin McCarthy told fellow House Republicans he will not run again for speaker, according to a GOP lawmaker.

A GOP conference meeting ended “abruptly” after McCarthy made the announcement, according to Rep. Ralph Norman.

The room was “stunned,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju.

“He wished everybody well,” Norman added.

The House of Representatives will be in recess until next week and return Tuesday night for a conference meeting before a potential vote later that week on electing a new speaker, according to Reps. Matt Gaetz and Bob Good.