Maine Representatives Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree both voted to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday, which marked the first time a House Speaker has been forced out of the position.
In a statement Tuesday, Rep. Golden said McCarthy was not an effective leader. Golden pointed to a number of pieces of legislation, including a freeze on fishing regulations that impacted Mainers, which he says the former speaker voted against or obstructed.
“Kevin voted against the bipartisan infrastructure law that is now creating jobs and supporting businesses in Maine and will for the next decade. He voted against the semiconductor bill that will advantage American manufacturing over foreign competitors. And Kevin sided with Big Pharma by voting against a new law to cap out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for seniors and force drug companies to negotiate with our government to lower unnecessarily high medication prices. Is this the new leadership that the people of Maine’s Second District are looking for? I don’t think so.”
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree accused McCarthy of selling out the House of Representatives to seize power.
“Unlike the Senate, our founders structured the House of Representatives to decide matters by a simple majority. But Kevin McCarthy was so desperate to grasp the gavel that he sold out our institution, allowing just one person to bring the People’s House to a grinding halt. Willfully upending our Democratic norms to seize power has turned this great populist chamber into a place where a single tyrant can rule. Despite this, my Democratic colleagues and I have tried to work across the aisle whenever possible – in fact 86% of the bills I have introduced in this Congress have Republican cosponsors – but when it comes to our Democracy we will not cave to extremists. As we have witnessed, House Republicans cannot govern this way and that’s why I joined the united Democratic caucus to support a motion to vacate the chair.”
The House voted 216-210 to remove McCarthy from the speakership, with eight Republicans joining Democrats on the motion to vacate.
