Amid House speaker drama, many in GOP want to do away with motion to vacate
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:
Democrats don't plan to save McCarthy's speakership
During a more than two-hour caucus meeting, Democrats were strongly encouraged to vote to not support Speaker McCarthy as he fights for his job, sources tell ABC News.
"It is now the responsibility of the GOP members to end the House Republican Civil War," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement. "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."
Several Democrats said they don't plan to bail McCarthy out.
"We're not voting in any way that would help save speaker McCarthy," Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said.
Vice Chair of House Democratic caucus Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., said, "the leadership put out the facts and the caucus heard from a lot of members… we need a functioning government and speaker McCarthy has shown he cannot govern."
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.
Biden: 'We need to change the poisonous atmosphere in Washington'
President Joe Biden weighed in for the first time on the ouster of McCarthy, calling on Congress to change the "poisonous atmosphere in Washington" and come together.
"More than anything we need to change the poisonous atmosphere in Washington. You know, we have strong disagreements, but we need to stop seeing each other as enemies. We need to talk to one another, listen to one another, work with one another. And we can do that," Biden urged while delivering remarks on student loans at the White House.
Biden said the GOP will need to "reorganize" and that it might "take some time" to select a new leader.
-ABC's Justin Gomez and Molly Nagle