Amid House speaker vacancy, many in GOP want to do away with motion to vacate

ByAlexandra Hutzler, Lauren Peller, Rachel Scott, Benjamin Siegel, and John Parkinson
Last Updated: October 3, 2023, 3:20 PM EDT

The race is on to elect a new House speaker showdown following the historic ouster of Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday.

Two Republicans have officially thrown their hats into the ring ahead of the party hoping to choose a new leader next week.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news has developed. All times Eastern.
Oct 03, 2023, 1:24 PM EDT

Has an effort to remove a House speaker ever succeeded?

A motion to vacate has only ever been voted on once, in 1910, in an effort to boot then-Speaker Joseph Cannon. The effort failed.

In 2015, then-Rep. Mark Meadows filed a resolution to force a vote on then-Speaker John Boehner’s leadership. But because Meadows didn’t introduce it on the House floor, it wasn’t taken up for consideration.

While history shows previous such efforts over the years have always failed -- it's possible this one could succeed.

Read more from ABC News' Tal Axelrod here.

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