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Real Reasons kevin McCarthy Was Removed As U.S Speaker
Real Reasons Kevin McCarthy Was Removed As U.S Speaker
Dissident Republicans in the U.S. House voted with Democrats on Tuesday to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker, a historic move that came just nine months after he secured the gavel following days of negotiating with the GOP’s right flank and 15 rounds of voting.
It wasn’t immediately clear after the vote how the House would proceed in the coming days, having entered uncharted territory. No speaker has ever before been removed by the House. North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry was named speaker pro tem until the election of a new speaker.
The 216-210 vote on a motion to vacate, which Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz filed Monday evening, capped off months of growing dissent among a small group of House Republicans.
Republican Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Gaetz, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Matt Rosendale of Montana voted to remove McCarthy.
They also voted against tabling the motion, which took place just before the vote and would have stopped the process from moving forward.
Warren Davidson of Ohio, Cory Mills of Florida and Victoria Spartz of Indiana voted against tabling, but for keeping McCarthy as speaker.
All House Democrats present voted to declare the office of the speaker vacant.
So far, there have only been three instances where a motion to vacate was filed, one in March 1910, one in July 2015 and the one this month.
Only three motions to vacate in history
McCarthy said before the vote that he was calling Gaetz’s bluff, though he appeared to accept he would be ousted as speaker.
“At the end of the day, if you throw a speaker out that has 99% of their conference, that kept the government open and paid the troops — I think we’re in a really bad place for how we’re going to run Congress,” McCarthy said.
The California Republican said he believed his support for passing a bipartisan short-term spending bill on Saturday, preventing a partial government shutdown, was the “right decision.”
“I stand by that decision and at the end of the day, if I have to lose my job over it, so be it,” McCarthy said. “I’ll continue to fight.”
McCarthy excoriated
Gaetz and other hard-line conservatives have publicly rebuked McCarthy for not holding to a private deal he struck with them in January in order to secure the speakership.
The group of GOP lawmakers, some of whom are in the Freedom Caucus, have lamented McCarthy striking an agreement with President Joe Biden in May to avoid a default on the nation’s debt and for relying on Democratic votes to pass the short-term government spending bill.
Gaetz, speaking Monday on the floor, called on McCarthy to detail whether he had brokered a private deal with Biden to hold a vote on legislation that would provide additional aid to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. He also criticized McCarthy for reportedly adding border security to those talks.
“I get that a lot of folks might disagree with my perspectives on the border or Ukraine,” Gaetz said. “But could we at least agree that no matter how you feel about Ukraine or the Southern border, they each deserve the dignity of their own consideration and should not be rolled together.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries released a “Dear Colleague” letter just before the vote announcing House Democrats would vote to vacate the chair.
“Given their unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican Motion to Vacate the Chair,” Jeffries wrote.
The group of Republican dissenters who voted to remove McCarthy represents a small fraction of the House Republican Conference, many of whom backed McCarthy on the floor Tuesday and defended his record.
GOP supporters: ‘He did the right thing’
“He’s being punished because he did the right thing on Saturday and made sure that the government didn’t shut down, and we bought more time to continue the appropriations process,” GOP Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma told reporters.
Cole offered the motion to table on behalf of McCarthy.
Arkansas GOP Rep. Steve Womack told reporters before the vote the motion to vacate was a distraction and a “fool’s errand.”
Womack, who sits on the Appropriations Committee, said Republicans should focus on clearing all 12 appropriations bills before the new mid-November deadline.
“We just took the country to the brink of a shutdown for the purpose of what? Moving the rest of our appropriation bills,” Womack said. “We need to finish our work, and the only way to do that is to pass the rule and get these bills across the floor and move to the Senate in conference.”
Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota told reporters Gaetz’s push for a motion to vacate showed there are “middle school grudges” against McCarthy.
“I think that Matt (Gaetz) is making a huge error,” Johnson said. “I think America is gonna be less well off because of his efforts. I think chaos has not served this country.”
Republican Rep. Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma told reporters she was skeptical of the motivations some have stated for removing McCarthy as speaker.
“This isn’t about the appropriations process, and don’t be fooled. (Gaetz) wants to talk about the fact that we should have been doing our (appropriations) work in August. Look, it didn’t happen. So now is the time, and instead of focusing on that for the next 43 days, we’re going to be focusing on this,” Bice said.
GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania told reporters that Republicans should focus on clearing legislation to fully fund the government and work on getting aid to Ukraine.
“If we vacate the chair, the government will shut down, our credit rating will go down, interest rates will go up,” Fitzpatrick said. “Ukraine will be victimized and lose that war to Russia. That is what is at stake here.”
Democrats cheer behind closed doors
Democrats huddled behind closed doors for nearly 90 minutes Tuesday morning to plot a path forward and allow members to speak for up to one minute about the motion to vacate. Rounds of applause and some cheering could be heard from the hallway outside the meeting.
Democratic lawmakers said after the meeting that McCarthy hadn’t built trust.
New Hampshire Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster told reporters the party had “unity of purpose” ahead of the vote.
“What has happened that all of you have witnessed and the American people have witnessed is that the current speaker has chosen to cater to a very extreme element that, in my view, it’s sort of a post-truth world,” Kuster said. “I think you can see that within his own caucus, but you can certainly see it in the way he’s treated us and the American people.”
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, a Washington state Democrat, told reporters that the House GOP could “wallow in their pigsty of incompetence and inability to govern.”
Jayapal said that Republican infighting about who their speaker should be was not an issue that Democrats felt the need to solve. She also noted that McCarthy has repeatedly broken trust with Democrats, making the party reluctant to help him keep the speakership.
“Nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy, and why should we? He has broken his commitment over and over again,” Jayapal said.
McCarthy, Jayapal said, has made a series of decisions that have eroded any support he would have had from Democrats. Those include his public comments following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters, his decision to walk away from a spending agreement he and Biden brokered earlier this year and his decision to withhold bringing a bill to the floor that would provide additional aid to Ukraine.
“Kevin McCarthy stood on the House floor and said one thing and then talked to Donald Trump and immediately did something else,” Jayapal said. “He has supported the insurrectionist president that enabled January 6 to happen and tried to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power.”
Jeffries, a New York Democrat, told reporters before the vote the party would “continue to put people over politics and to fight to make life better for everyday Americans.”
“From the very beginning that has been our objective and it will continue to be our sole focus,” Jeffries said. “We encourage our Republican colleagues, who claim to be more traditional, to break from the extremists.”
Jeffries said that Democrats were “ready, willing and able to work together with GOP lawmakers.
“But it is on them to join us to move the Congress and the country forward,” Jeffries said.
Rep. Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, told reporters after the closed-door meeting there wasn’t “a lot of goodwill in that room for Kevin McCarthy.”
“If you’re gonna negotiate, you have to negotiate with somebody you can trust who can actually keep their word,” Neal said. “And there’s not been a lot of evidence that Kevin McCarthy has kept his word along the way.”
Disputes over spending, Ukraine
Just hours before a shutdown would have begun this weekend, Congress approved a short-term bill to fund the government until Nov. 17. The House passed the stopgap measure in a 335-91 vote, with 90 Republicans opposing it. Senators approved the bill 88-9, with nine Republicans opposed.
The deal didn’t include additional funding for Ukraine, though Biden said Sunday that he and McCarthy agreed to find the votes needed to pass a supplemental package with military assistance and humanitarian relief for the war-torn country as it resists further invasion by Russia.
The stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown was not the only time McCarthy worked with Democrats to avert financial calamity. In May the speaker brokered a deal with Biden to raise the debt ceiling and keep the U.S. from defaulting on its loans.
The deal, signed into law as the Fiscal Responsibility Act, included agreed-upon spending levels for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
McCarthy has been unable to unify his far-right members around the established spending levels during this year’s appropriations process, bringing the federal government within hours of a partial shutdown.
House lawmakers on the far-right of the spectrum have been browbeating McCarthy since before he took the gavel.
McCarthy’s path to the speakership in January took 15 ballots as more than a dozen far-right conservatives blocked him during a four-day stalemate.
The California Republican won on the 15th ballot after several concessions to the ultra-conservative wing of his party, including a change to the motion to vacate that will allow any one member to essentially call for a no-confidence vote on the speaker.
McCarthy also reserved spots on key committees for far-right members and entered a handshake deal with members of the House Freedom Caucus, promising to cut spending levels.
Celebrating Sir Edwin Ogidi-Gbegbaje At 60 By Jimmy Enyeh
Majority of Deltans are unanimous in their submissions that the name of
Sir Edwin Ogidi-Gbegbaje, a celebrated top civil servant and retired permanent secretary in Delta State Government House has been recorded in the good side of history.
As he clocked 60 today, family members, friends, associates and well wishers have been falling over themselves to pay tribute to a kind hearted and jolly good fellow.
Edwin, a scion of the famous Gbegbaje family in Ekpan, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, a family noted for producing top bureaucrats and influential public servants.
For 35 years until he retired in January 2024, he added values to Delta State civil service, deepening its positive nuances and was one of the people that nurtured the civil service of the young state upon creation in 1991 to its now enviable heights, setting it along with others on a trajectory that has made it one of the best in the country.
Gbegbaje’s story is far from the proverbial rags-to-riches . He was born into comfort and high society, but suddenly lost his affluent parents in his first and third years at the University of Jos, but with good counsel and guidance of relatives who were bureaucrats, Edwin Ogidi-Gbegbaje made a career choice that saw him becoming a permanent secretary at 46, a very rare feat in those days.
In an interview conducted three years ago to celebrate his 57 years, he offered a glimpse into his life, challenges and triumph. “I come from the larger Gbegbaje family in Ekpan, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State. We have quite several branches of the genealogical tree. We have the Abesan. The patriarch of the family is Chief Gbegbaje Dasone.
“We have Oloyo Gbegbaje and Ogidi Gbegbaje. My parents were civil servants like myself. My mum was a social welfare officer who rose through the ranks.During the late Ambrose Ali administration in Bendel State, she was appointed permanent secretary. My father was a medical doctor.
“He was the first radiologist in the defunct Bendel State and second in the country. My father was the chief consultant radiologist in Bendel State. I also have an uncle, Mr. K Gbegbaje who was a permanent secretary. When he retired, he became the Chairman of Bendel State Civil Service Commission. I have an uncle who was the first Accountant-General of Kwara State. He was in the northern civil service in the 60s.He later became Chairman of National Oil. I am from a family of bureaucrats. I attended Emotan Primary School in Benin.
“I proceeded to Edo College. When I left Edo College, I had the desire to leave Benin. Even when I was admitted into UNIBEN to study Economics and Statistics, I wasn’t enthusiastic. So, I got admission to study Political Science in Jos in 1981. Prof Emovon from UNIBEN was the Vice-Chancellor in Jos at the time. As I was entering, Jos ceased being a campus of the University of Ibadan. I was there from 1981 -1985. I graduated before my 21st birthday.
“Unfortunately, I lost my dad as I was entering the university in 1981. When I was just getting into my third year, I lost my mum.
It wasn’t easy being the eldest among my siblings. In fact, I was encouraged to come for Christmas holiday in Benin without knowing that the evening of my arrival in Benin was the period of my mum’s service of songs.
“I didn’t have an inkling that such a thing had happened. I didn’t even hear that she was ill. I was shocked when I saw canopies in my compound at Ovie Whiskey Avenue close to Ekhewan Campus. A prominent Jos-based businessman from Ughelli encouraged me to visit home for Christmas.
“I graduated in 1985 and taught at a secondary school in Iko-Eket, Cross River State. Just as I was finishing, there were some advertisements for jobs. I didn’t see the one for NNPC early enough.Towards the end of 1988, my uncle who was the Chairman of Bendel State Civil Service Commission, said since I couldn’t get a private sector job, I should participate in extended interviews, especially since I had sat for ASCON examination.
“He advised me to start a career in the civil service. By the end of 1988, letters of appointment were out. I wasn’t conscious of the fact that the person who resumes first becomes the senior in service. I didn’t resume early. My uncle said I was supposed to have resumed instead of waiting to resume in the New Year. A few of my friends who were conscious of it had resumed and they became my seniors in service. I resumed on January 3, 1989.
“That was how my career started. We were supposed to come in as administrative officers Grade 7, but at that time there was a decree. So, by the time we came in, we were designated as personnel officers. We were regarded as the special class.
“Upon the creation of Delta State on August 27, 1991, we all had to move to Asaba. In fact, the movement was swift.
We were all not fully prepared for the swift movement. There was a surge of human beings into Asaba with the state creation. A lot of us couldn’t get accommodation in Asaba when we came. In fact, I stayed in Ibusa for nine years. It was when I met my wife that we moved to Asaba. A lot of my colleagues were sleeping in the offices then.
On his retirement, the Delta State governor praised Gbegbaje’s contribution to the growth of the state.
Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, at the retirement thanks-giving service of Gbegbaje, urged civil servants in the state to emulate his virtues.
Speaking at a grand reception in honour of the celebrant at the Events Centre, Asaba, Governor Oborevwori described Ogidi-Gbegbaje as an intelligent, humble, diligent, transparent, process driven, selfless, accountable and compassionate bureaucrat.
While congratulating the retired Permanent Secretary for his diligent and patriotic service to the state, Oborevwori said Ogidi-Gbegbaje was very helpful in the last seven months of his administration.
According to him, “a lot has been said about Sir Eddy Ogidi-Gbegbaje and I also have a personal experience about him while I was Speaker and in the last seven months as Governor of Delta State, we have worked very closely and he helped me to settle down quickly.
“Sir Ogidi-Gbegbaje played his role very well, he is diligent in his duties and was always giving good and useful advise wherever he worked.
“Your service to humanity is something worth emulating and I must say that I enjoyed working with you. I congratulate you for 35 years of unblemished and meritorious service to the government and people of Delta State.
“We are going to miss you, the civil service will miss you, the machinery of government will miss you, you are retired but you are not tired, and your service is still needed.
“I want other civil servants to emulate your commitment to duty. So my message to other civil servants is that they should emulate Edwin Ogidi-Gbegbaje.
“If you look at his journey in the civil service from Bendel to Delta, you see his commitment to duty. Today, he has finished strong and we rejoice with him and his family”.
Chairman of the occasion and former Minister of Information, Professor Sam Oyovbaire, congratulated the celebrant for a successful retirement from service and urged other civil servants to emulate his kind virtues and commitment to duty.
From all indications, Edwin Ogidi-Gbagbaje is worth celebrating, he has touched numerous lives in the last six decades.
At the cusp of his 60th anniversary, the social and the civil service landscapes pulse with milestones he has achieved thus reasserting his worth as a rare force of nature. As family and friends join him in celebrating his 60th birthday, the image that pops into head is that of his genius and the passionate intensity he possesses, literally squizing water from stone as far as the public service is concerned. His brilliant performance as a permanent secretary, Delta State Government House, has earned him another appointment. He is currently the Chairman, Delta State Bureau for Pension and has been giving a splendid account of himself.
“In All Life’s Hardships, Keep Your Smile” By Prudent Ludidi
Let’s talk about a powerful tool that can help you navigate life’s challenges with confidence, resilience, and hope. That tool is your smile.
Life can be tough. It can throw us curveballs, test our resolve, and push us to our limits. But in the midst of hardship, it’s easy to lose sight of what truly matters. We forget to smile, forget to laugh, and forget to live.
Your smile is more than just a facial expression. It’s a symbol of strength, courage, and determination. It’s a beacon of hope that shines brightly, even in the darkest moments.
When life gets tough, it’s tempting to frown, to cry, or to give up. But I urge you to do the opposite. Smile. Smile through the tears, smile through the pain, and smile through the struggles.
Smiling doesn’t mean you’re ignoring your problems or pretending everything is okay. It means you’re choosing to rise above, to find the silver lining, and to focus on the good.
Your smile has the power to transform your mindset, inspire others, diffuse tension, and heal emotional wounds. It’s a powerful antidote to stress, anxiety, and fear.
Think about it. When was the last time you smiled? Really smiled? Not just a polite smile or a forced grin, but a genuine, heartwarming smile?
Smiling can:
Reduce stress and anxiety
Boost your mood and energy
Improve your relationships
Increase your resilience
So, how can you keep your smile shining bright, even in the face of adversity?
Find the humor in difficult situations. Laughter is a powerful way to shift your perspective and lighten the load.
Practice gratitude daily. Focus on the good things in your life, no matter how small they may seem.
Surround yourself with positivity. Spend time with people who uplift and support you.
Take care of your physical and mental well-being. Get enough sleep, exercise regularly, and prioritize self-care.
Remember, your smile is contagious. It can light up a room, brighten someone’s day, and change the atmosphere.
In all life’s hardships, keep your smile. It’s a reminder that better days are ahead, that you’re stronger than you think, and that you’re not alone.
Your smile is your superpower. Use it to overcome obstacles, to uplift others, and to create a ripple effect of joy and positivity.
Don’t let life’s challenges steal your smile. Keep shining, keep smiling, and keep pushing forward.
You are stronger than you think.
You are braver than you feel.
And you are capable of overcoming anything that comes your way.
So, smile. Smile with confidence. Smile with courage. Smile with hope!
celebrity radar - gossips
Lagos State’s Stability is a Barometer for Nigeria’s Stability – Amb. Tukur Buratai
Lagos State’s Stability is a Barometer for Nigeria’s Stability – Amb. Tukur Buratai
The Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS, Nigerian Army) and Former Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, Ambassador (Lt General rtd) Tukur Yusufu Buratai, CFR has said that Lagos State has all the qualifications of a modern city and is one of the most populated cities in Sub – Saharan Africa. He went further to affirm that Lagos is also indicative of the degree to which Nigeria’s economic, political, social, and cultural landscape is deeply embedded within the global system.
He made this assertion on Wednesday 20th November, 2024 as the keynote Speaker at the Second Edition of the Lagos State University of Education Security Summit, with the theme: Insecurity, Cost of Living and Good Governance in the 21st Century.
Ambassador Tukur Buratai, while delivering the lecture in a paper titled: Lagos in Nigeria’s National Security and Defence Architecture: An Analysis.
Ambassador Tukur Buratai postulated in his paper that, “The presence of strategic military installations, the verse Atlantic Ocean and extensive coastline has placed Lagos State on the strategic defense map of the Armed Forces of Nigeria”, He said further that, ” While the sea provides a strategic economic status it could also be vulnerable to external attacks across the ocean”.
In his paper, Ambassador Tukur Buratai reiterated that the Lagos State government should begin to look at the options and implications of having its own security.
Ambassador Tukur Buratai also emphasized the urgent necessity to bolster our nation’s troop level to 800,000. He said a larger and more robust force will enhance operational readiness, improve our country’s capacity to respond to various contingencies, and strengthen our alliance on the international stage.
He also called for the establishment of a Marine Corps for the Nigerian Navy to be strategically stationed in key regions such as Lagos, Borno, Cross River, and Port Harcourt.
He also raised the pressing issue of the persistent lack of stable power supply in Lagos. He asserted that the Lagos State Government must urgently prioritize the development of independent power generation.
Ambassador Tukur Buratai also lauded the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s strategy regarding security in Lagos, which provides an example for governor’s throughout Nigeria. He said the governor recognizes that genuine security transcends mere physical presence or reactive measures. He commended the governor’s innovative approach, which has redefined the urban governance, and has also set a benchmark for other states to follow.
Ambassador Tukur Buratai also recalled that during his tenure as the Chief of Army Staff, he had the distinct privilege of witnessing the fruitful collaboration between the Nigerian Army and Lagos State under the leadership of Former Governor Ambode and now Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Ambassador Buratai, during the lecture, also appluaded the Lagos State Government on its infrastructural development in Lagos State, especially the Red and Blue Railway lines.
Ambassador Tukur Buratai also commended the Federal Government interventions in the development of Lagos State, while applauding the construction of the Lagos to Calabar Highway, he adviced the Lagos State and Federal Government on the security implications of opening up the high way, he suggested to the government to be proactive by early planning for its security when opened and becomes operational.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the Lagos State University of Education, Prof B. B Lafiaji-Okuneye welcomed Ambassador Tukur Buratai to the institution. In her words, she said, ” The great warlord and global peace ambassador is visiting our great institution for the first time. Sir, we appreciate you and what you stand for. Your desire for a Nigeria that is peaceful and safe, where the citizens and residents are free and are given every opportunity to prove their worth and contribute to the growth and development of the nation is evident “.
While making his contribution during the summit, the Commissioner of Tertiary Education, Lagos State, appreciated and commended Ambassador Buratai for adding value to the security summit and more importantly adding value to the Lagos State University of Education. The Commissioner also drew the attention of the participants of the summit to parts of Ambassador Buratai’s paper, where he elaborated on the strategy of social inclusiveness rather than the use of force to curb insecurity.
The Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Barr Tolani Sule on behalf of the Lagos State University of Education, presented a Plague of Honour to Ambassador Buratai for his role in nation building.
Other discussant at the Summit included, HRM, Oba Kamorudeen Animashaun, (Arolugbade 11, the Oloja of Epe Land and the Vice Chairman, Lagos State Council of Obas and Chiefs), HRM, Oba Momodu Afolabi Ashafa ( The Aladi of Ijanikin Kingdom), HRM, Oba (Dr) Aina Josiah Olanrewaju ( IKUYAMIKU 1, the Oloto of Oto Awori Kingdom) and HRH, Oba Babatunde Ogunlaja JP ( ALADESHOYIN, the Paramount Ruler of Odo – Noforija Kingdom), all of whom spoke on the theme :Insecurity, Cost of Living and Good Governance in the 21st Century.
The event which was attended by various Traditional Rulers, Members of the Governing Council and Senate of the Institution, the Commissioner of Tertiary Education in Lagos State, Barr Tolani Sule, Captain of Industries, Security and Para Military Chiefs in Lagos State, various invited guests and the students.
Ambassador Tukur Buratai’s delegation to the summit included, Lt General Lamidi Adeosun (rtd), Former Chief of Policy and Plans, Nigerian Army, Colonel Emmanuel Adegbola (rtd), Comrade Oladimeji Odeyemi, Alhaja Toyyibat Adeosun, Alhaji Isa Dogo amongst others.
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