Democracy Dies in Darkness

Opinion McCarthy’s gone. Republican dysfunction is here to stay.

Columnist|
October 3, 2023 at 8:47 p.m. EDT
Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) leaves the House chamber after being voted out as speaker on Tuesday in Washington. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
5 min

At 4:45 p.m., the gavel fell on Kevin McCarthy’s speakership.

“The Office of Speaker of the House of the United States House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant,” the presiding officer, Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), announced after the 216-210 vote to oust McCarthy.

From the front row of the gallery, I heard gasps from the floor. And then, from the Republican side of the chamber, a lone woman’s voice: “Now what?”