On Tuesday, Oct. 3, former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was removed from his position in a vote of 216 to 210. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., spearheaded the effort to oust McCarthy, and seven more Republicans joined forces with Democratic representatives to secure the majority vote.

Straight Arrow News contributor Newt Gingrich believes that McCarthy’s removal was a mistake, as he considered McCarthy an effective speaker. Gingrich argues that this move has left the future of the House in chaos.

McCarthy had a personal enemy in Matt Gaetz — who I regard as the most serious anti-Republican in the Congress. Gaetz sided with the Democrats. Let’s be very clear, 24 out of every 25 Republicans voted with Speaker McCarthy. That’s right, 96% voted with McCarthy.

Normally, if the leader gets 96% support, they’re in pretty good shape. But because Gaetz was willing to work with the Democrats, he was able to fashion just enough votes to defeat his own party. So you ended up with 210 Republicans being defeated by eight Republicans because they allied themselves with the Democrats.

It was a remarkable moment. I think it’s very destructive of the House. I’m not quite sure how the next speaker is going to try to govern, because he’s going to face the same people. And they’re going to have the same attitude, which is do what they want or else. And the fact is, what they want to do is not possible, doesn’t fit reality, can’t be implemented.