7 months ago
41
Barely Speaker Kevin McCarthy is on the verge of making history as the first leader to be ousted by the House of Representatives. Many Democrats have no inclination to save him, and Democratic leadership is officially against him. So if the unprecedented happens and the House votes to oust McCarthy, what happens next?
There will be a “speaker pro tempore,” an interim speaker who steps up. Following the 9/11 attacks, the 103rd Congress instituted a new rule requiring the speaker “to deliver to the Clerk a list of Members in the order in which each shall act as Speaker pro tempore in the case of a vacancy in the Office of Speaker.” The person at the top of McCarthy’s list would be empowered to exercise any “necessary and appropriate” authorities until the House elects a permanent speaker.
