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Editor's note: After McCarthy was ousted from power shortly before 5 p.m. ET, Rep. Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican, was revealed to be the first name on McCarthy's list. This post will be updated.
Kevin McCarthy was ousted from power on Tuesday evening, leading to Rep. Patrick McHenry being named the temporary leader of a chamber thrown into chaos.
Under House rules, McCarthy was required to provide the House clerk in January a then-secret list of members that temporarily serve as Speaker of the House if the office became vacant. McHenry, a nine-term North Carolina Republican, was revealed to be the first name on McCarthy's list.
McHenry, who leads the House Financial Services Committee, now has the power of the speakership that is needed to lead the chamber through the days ahead. The speakership is more than just one of the most powerful posts in Congress. The House speaker is also second in line to the presidency, after the vice president.
A congressional rules expert pointed out that this temporary speaker could theoretically remain in power.
"The Speaker pro tem could stay in the chair," Josh Huder, a senior fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "There's not [a] forcing mechanism for a new election, nor are there any overt restrictions on the power the pro tem would wield. The support of the conference would dictate the durability of this."
McCarthy became speaker in January after a historic 15-ballot struggle. He has vowed to continue to fight to lead the chamber even if Gaetz is successful. Technically speaking, McCarthy could still run to be speaker after he is ousted, though he has not specifically declared he would do so. The California Republican has focused his efforts thus far on defeating Gaetz's effort.
Gaetz and other far-right House Republicans have long had a tenuous relationship with McCarthy.
Those tensions exploded after McCarthy moved to avert a government shutdown by passing a 45-day stopgap measure to keep the federal government funded. McCarthy had to rely on House Democrats to pass the funding after 90 House Republicans opposed the resolution.
