In the minutes after the motion to vacate against McCarthy, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., was named as speaker pro tempore, an interim role to lead the chamber until another speaker is elected at a future point.

McHenry is a top McCarthy ally and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

He recessed the House for caucus meetings.

Eight Republicans voted to take away McCarthy's gavel.

In addition to Gaetz, who introduced the motion to vacate, the following Republicans voted to oust McCarthy: Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Matt Rosendale of Arizona.

Every Democrat present also supported the motion to vacate.

In a 45-minute roll call vote, the House moved to oust McCarthy as speaker.

The final vote was 216 to 210 in favor of Gaetz's motion to vacate, with eight Republicans joining Democrats.

"The office of speaker of the House of the United States House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant," said presiding officer Rep. Steve Womack.

It is the first time in U.S. history that the speaker of the House has been booted from the post, putting the chamber in unprecedented territory.

Republican rebels appear to have enough votes to remove McCarthy as speaker, given that Democrats joined them, though the vote is ongoing.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise also stood up to support McCarthy during the debate on the motion to vacate, saying now isn't the time to stop the progress House Republicans have made.

"When we go back to January, as many people have, we knew that it was going to be a narrow majority," Scalise said. "We also knew it wasn't going to be easy. How many of us came here because we thought this job was going to be easy?"

Scalise continued, "One thing we did know is that if we were going to finally start confronting the problems that had been ignored for years and years and years, we had to change the way this place worked. And one thing Speaker McCarthy embraced from Day 1 is to start making those kind of changes to this institution -- opening up the process, allowing members to be more engaged, having amendments come to the floor, single-subject bills, doing appropriations bills."

"Speaker McCarthy has been leading at the top of the level to make sure we have the tools to do our jobs," he added.

Gaetz said earlier this week he'd support Scalise for speaker and believed other Republicans would, too, telling reporters he thinks "very highly" of the No. 2 House Republican.