Montana’s two Republican Congressional Representatives split their vote Tuesday on a historic move to oust Speaker of the U.S. House Kevin McCarthy.
Eight hardline House Republicans, Montana’s Matt Rosendale among them, joined Democrats Tuesday to boot Kevin McCarthy from the speaker’s chair.
Rosendale’s frustration with McCarthy has been mounting for months, most recently criticizing him for supporting a short-term funding bill to avert a government shutdown.
Back in early January it took 15 dramatic rounds of voting for McCarthy to win the speakership. Rosendale at that time joined a group of holdouts who initially blocked McCarthy’s path to the position.
Everyone eventually dropped their opposition by voting ‘present’ instead of casting ballots for another candidate.
Rosendale’s counterpart in the U.S. House, Republican Ryan Zinke, described January’s Republican infighting over the House speakership as ‘embarrassing.’
Zinke, who represents Montana’s western district, has been a stalwart McCarthy ally. Twice on Tuesday he took to social media expressing his support for the now-former speaker. When it was his turn during Tuesday’s roll call vote to strip McCarthy of his gavel, Zinke announced “No. Nay. Never.”
