Voting to Remove McCarthy as Speaker of the House

This week, the House voted to oust Kevin McCarthy from his post as Speaker. Last Saturday, I voted on a bipartisan compromise that kept the federal government operating past what had been a looming midnight shutdown. I also announced that Tennessee will be receiving more than $1.2 billion in federal highway spending, including $18 million for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. I also announced a grant that will support 50 additional low-income families through the Memphis Children’s Health Law Directive, known as Memphis CHILD; invited students to register for the Congressional App Challenge, and offered a health tip. Keep reading and follow me on Twitter (X), Facebook, and Instagram to see what I am doing as it happens.

Voting to Remove McCarthy as Speaker of the House

On Tuesday, rebellious, right-wing Republicans orchestrated a successful ousting of Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy. The unified House Democrats joined in the vote to remove McCarthy due to a lack of confidence in his leadership and a serious lack of trust. This has never happened in United States history and marked a low point in the disastrous control of the House by fractious Republicans. The House is currently adjourned until we hold a vote for McCarthy’s replacement next week.

This was a difficult vote, summed up best by Carl Hulse in The New York Times: "Mr. McCarthy had promised Democrats fair treatment and a role in governing, but then pushed intensely partisan legislation that they found detestable. He cavalierly launched an impeachment inquiry into the Democratic president when he found himself on shaky ground with his right-wing troops. He cut a spending deal with the White House, then reneged on it — all the while saying he was doing what he thought was right for the nation. Mr. McCarthy, always facile, pretty much talked himself out of his job. His trust deficit was deep all around."

Kevin McCarthy is someone I never thought would become Speaker of the House, and he never became such a person. Much of his downfall goes back to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who had a personal vendetta against him. Although he wasn't indicted for it in Florida, Gaetz's well-documented indiscretions with underaged women who he flew across state lines to party with is a subject of investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Gaetz has repeatedly asked McCarthy to call off that investigation, McCarthy refused, and so Gaetz led the charge to vacate the Speaker's chair.

No one expected McCarthy to give in to the far-right so often only to have this situation occur, but it did. The House could end up with a Speaker who is even less willing to compromise and work with Democrats, but for now the House Majority has paralyzed Congress's ability to work and to complete a budget to avoid the next shutdown deadline of November 17.

Avoiding a Government Shutdown

Last Saturday, after Speaker McCarthy realized there would be a government shutdown at midnight unless he put a bill on the floor and relied on Democrats to pass it, I voted for the measure and we avoided furloughs and the shuttering of needed federal programs. Another shutdown is looming if Congress cannot pass spending bills by November 17.

All but one Democrat voted for the stop-gap budget measure, and that was Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL). Rep. Quigley is Chair of the Ukraine Caucus and is of Ukrainian descent, and he opposed the measure because it lacked crucial funding to support Ukraine against Russia. Even still, after Democrats stepped in to rescue Speaker McCarthy and pass this bill, McCarthy went on television to blame us for nearing a shutdown. It was yet another display of dishonesty that led to McCarthy losing trust, and ultimately to losing the Speaker's chair.

Announcing $1.2 Billion in Federal Highway Funding for Tennessee

On Monday, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released apportionment figures for a variety of its programs for the fiscal year that began Sunday. Tennessee will receive $1.2 billion, including $80.6 million for the state’s bridges and $18.8 million to build out its electric vehicle infrastructure. This funding was made possible by the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, which I was proud to support. See details in my release here.

Applauding Memphis CHILD Medical-Legal Partnership Grant

On Tuesday, I announced that the Memphis Children’s Health Law Directive, known as Memphis CHILD, received funding supporting services for an additional 50 low-income families. The directive is a partnership between Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Methodist Le Bonheur Community Outreach, the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and Memphis Area Legal Services.

Registering for the Congressional App Challenge

The Congressional App Challenge is a competition aimed at encouraging students to learn how to code by creating their own apps. The Challenge is intended to highlight the value of computer science and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education and encourage students to engage in these fields. The Congressional App Challenge is open to middle school and high school students in the Ninth Congressional District of Tennessee. Students participating in the competition may register and submit their app here through November 1, 2023. For complete registration information and resources, please visit the Congressional App Challenge website.

Weekly Health Tip

The Shelby County Health Department has renamed the former Environmental Health Service Bureau as the Environmental Health Services and Sustainability Bureau to more accurately reflect its work and engage the public affected by harm to the environment. Read more about the change, and ways you can get involved, here.

Quote of the Week

"Some Democrats seemed legitimately torn over what to do about the push to remove Mr. McCarthy, worried about who would come after him and the likely damage to the institution if speakers can now be discarded so easily. And they certainly weren’t happy about aligning themselves with Representative Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican who led the effort to depose the speaker and a man most Democrats — and many Republicans — can’t stomach.

“But as they gathered in the Capitol Visitor Center to decide whether to overlook Mr. McCarthy’s political sins and back him, they instead ended up reciting a litany of his offenses, an indictment that could have been nailed to the House chamber door. Without Democrat support and with eight hard-core right-wing Republicans willing to vote against him, Mr. McCarthy stood no chance given the slim Republican majority that has haunted his tenure.

"For Mr. McCarthy, who practiced a management style of doing and saying pretty much whatever it would take to get through the day, tomorrow finally arrived.

“'This is a somber day for America as the chickens come home to roost for Kevin McCarthy,’ said Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland." — Carl Hulse, in his analysis for The New York Times, "McCarthy's Extraordinary Downfall Reflects and Ungovernable G.O.P.

As always, I remain,
Most sincerely,

Steve Cohen
Member of Congress