WASHINGTON, D.C. – Americans in the nation’s capital said they fear America’s democracy is at risk after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted as House speaker.
“I think it’s going to be a little hard to govern,” Chester, from Chicago, told Fox News. “I think the radicals will be more and more in charge now, and it’s going to be hard to come up with compromises. Democracy hinges on compromise, and we’re just lacking that.”
“I think [McCarthy] should have had more chance to do what he’s got to do,” he continued. “You can’t get everybody on board, but you shouldn’t have just a few guys able to derail things.”
But Dana, from St. Louis, disagreed.
“I have no sympathy for him,” she said. “He made that deal, so that’s on him.”
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A small group of Republicans were upset McCarthy pushed through a short-term spending bill — garnering more support from Democrats than GOP representatives — to keep the government open for 45 days. The move led Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to introduce a motion to vacate McCarthy from the speakership Monday night. Only eight Republicans voted in favor, but with help from Democrats, the motion passed on Tuesday, making McCarty the first House speaker in history to be removed.
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“I think it really is indicative of the dysfunction of the Republican Party, and that’s really troublesome to me,” Genevieve, visiting the nation’s capital, told Fox News.
Kiera, from Missouri, said there should have been a better reason to remove McCarthy.
“He made the deal to get voted in, and he knew what was coming,” Kiera, from Missouri, said. “But at the same time, when it came to the budget, the government not getting shut down, he did do the right thing.”
“This is a historical institution,” Kiera continued. “Unless he did something majorly wrong, you don’t do something like that. I do think it was wrong.”
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McCarthy struck a deal with critics after a long process to win the speaker’s gavel in January. He agreed to allow any lawmaker to trigger a vote for his removal, known as a motion to vacate.
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“I just think he brought it upon himself,” Michael, from Kansas, said. “He probably should have never agreed to all the things he agreed to.”
But some Americans said the whole process showed Congress’ failure to compromise.
“It’s ridiculous,” Daphne, from Alabama, said. “I don’t like the way they handled things. They need to do their jobs better.”
Genevieve called the ousting “despicable.”
“The Republicans really made a mess of things,” she said. “Our country really needs to come together.”
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Isabelle McDonnell contributed to the accompanying video.
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