House begins voting on attempt to block McCarthy removal – live

In a letter to House Democrats, minority leader Hakeem Jeffries says the GOP’s “unwillingness to break from Maga extremism” has left him with no choice but to call on lawmakers to support removing Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House.

“House Democrats remain willing to find common ground on an enlightened path forward. Unfortunately, our extreme Republican colleagues have shown no willingness to do the same,” the New York congressman writes.

“It is now the responsibility of the GOP members to end the House Republican Civil War. Given their unwillingness to break from Maga extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican Motion to Vacate the Chair.”

In his letter, Jeffries recounts a host of transgressions Republicans have committed since taking the majority in Congress’s lower chamber earlier this year. These include the “unprecedented dysfunction” caused by the lengthy fight over McCarthy’s election as House speaker in January, the insertion of “radical provisions” into an annual military policy bill, and the commencement of an impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden without a vote of the House, which Jeffries said wastes “time and taxpayer dollars … despite their own witnesses testifying under oath that there is no evidence that President Joe Biden engaged in any wrongdoing.”

“We confront a serious, solemn and sober moment,” Jeffries wrote. “The vote that the House will cast this week in connection with a Motion to Vacate the Chair is not about any one individual. Our responsibility as Members of Congress relates to the Constitution, the principle of good governance and the people we are privileged to serve. Nothing more, and nothing less.”

Kevin McCarthy may, as soon as this afternoon, become the first speaker of the House in American history to be removed from the job. The far-right Republicans who held up his election to the leadership post for days in January have struck again, proposing a motion to vacate that will go up for a vote this afternoon. While the Californian has the option of asking the sizable Democratic minority for their support to save him, he has rejected doing that – and they, in turn, have unanimously said they will not help McCarthy, a Donald Trump ally who has been crucial to the effort to downplay the severity of the January 6 insurrection.

How did we get here? The trouble for the House GOP began last November, when they retook the majority in the chamber, but only by a measly four seats. That empowered far-right lawmakers such as Matt Gaetz to hold up McCarthy’s election as speaker for days, relenting only after he agreed to concessions, which included allowing any member to make a motion to vacate. Rightwing lawmakers generally demanded McCarthy adopt a take-no-prisoners approach to dealing with Joe Biden and the Democrats, who control the Senate, but their anger grew over the months that followed, when McCarthy cut a deal with Biden to increase the debt limit while slashing some government spending. The far-right fury peaked this past weekend, when McCarthy worked with Democrats to fund the government for a few weeks while the parties negotiate its long-term budget, narrowly averting a shutdown.

That latter event prompted Gaetz to follow through on his implied threat and introduce a motion to vacate, which, as of this writing, appears to have enough votes to successfully boot McCarthy from the speaker’s chair. But as he made clear in comments earlier today, McCarthy is a survivor and will not go down without a fight.

Keep following this blog as we cover what will be an action-packed afternoon.

Here’s what else is going on today:

• Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to federal gun charges at his arraignment in Delaware.

• Trump is back in court in New York City as a judge considers how much in damages he and his family should pay for fraudulently inflating the value of their assets over the course of years.

A House Democratic aide confirms to the Guardian’s US politics live blog that all of the party’s lawmakers plan to vote against Kevin McCarthy remaining as speaker.

The Democrats were similarly united in January, when they repeatedly voted for minority leader Hakeem Jeffries as speaker of the House, giving no lifeline to McCarthy and his allies after far-right GOP lawmakers held up his election for days.

The House is expected to consider the motion to vacate beginning at 1pm today.

The Washington Post reports that Democrats are unified in voting for the motion to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House for his support of Donald Trump and his downplaying of the January 6 attack on the Capitol:

Democrats have the option of voting present on the motion to vacate, or supporting a motion to table the removal attempt, which would have blocked it. According to the Post, the minority party has ruled that out, and McCarthy earlier today said he was not going to ask the Democrats for help to remain as speaker.

Centrist House Democrats appear to have also rejected helping Kevin McCarthy survive the vote on the motion to vacate, with the chair of the New Democrat Coalition Annie Kuster releasing a statement calling the Republican House speaker “simply not trustworthy”.

Here it is, in full:

You are only as good as your word — and time and again, Speaker McCarthy has proven that he is not a man of his word. He is simply not trustworthy.

While Republicans have lost their way, Democrats stand united in our purpose and our Caucus. Leader Jeffries continues to be the steady, forward-looking voice we need to lead our country forward. New Dems are proud to stand with our Leader and our Caucus to deliver progress for the American people, not chaos.

The New Democrat Coalition is the second-largest caucus among Democrats in the House.

Leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Pramila Jayapal ruled out helping Kevin McCarthy survive as the chamber’s speaker, saying the vote to oust him is “not a Democratic problem”.

“We are not voting in any way that would help save Speaker McCarthy,” said Jayapal, whose 100-member caucus is the largest among House Democrats:

One way for Kevin McCarthy to hold on to his speaker’s gavel would be to ask the Democratic minority for help. But he has ruled out doing that and, as is becoming clear, Democrats have no interest in helping him.

Citing California congressman Mark Takano, CNN reports that at a closed-door meeting, Democratic lawmakers were unanimously critical of McCarthy:

Takano represents a fairly safe district. But the sentiment extends even to Democrats holding more tenuous ground. Here’s Jared Golden of Maine, one of their most vulnerable lawmakers. From Politico:

And Virginia’s Abigail Spanberger, a leader of vulnerable Democrats. Courtesy of Punchbowl News:

Kevin McCarthy simultaneously said he was “confident” he could remain as speaker of the House, noting it took him 15 ballots be elected to the chamber’s top job earlier this year.

“Have you ever come to me on no matter what you thought I couldn’t solve, that I wasn’t confident?” the Republican speaker said in an exchange with a reporter.

He continued:

You’re asking why I’m confident – because who I am. And I just don’t give up. So, there are obstacles in my life, I have fallen many times, there was a time I was going to be speaker and I couldn’t and you guys all counted me out. I’m speaker. I’m the 55th speaker of the House. You’re confident that government was going to shut down, you were confident the debt ceiling wouldn’t get done. But each and every time … if it’s an obstacle, I view it as a challenge, and we’re gonna solve the challenge.

McCarthy was then asked: “Are you confident that you’ll hold on?”

“I’m confident I’ll hold on,” he replied.