Who is Rep. Patrick McHenry, the speaker in charge of the House until a new speaker is chosen

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) will serve as speaker pro tempore of the House of Representatives after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted from the speakership during a historic vote Tuesday.

McHenry was chosen from a list of names not shared with the public following the vote to vacate the speakership. Lawmakers voted 216-210 to remove McCarthy from his position after eight Republicans joined all Democrats in a historic move against GOP leadership.

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Here is what to know about McHenry and what comes next for the House.

Who is Patrick McHenry?

McHenry represents North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District. He and Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) were the chief negotiators of the continuing resolution passed last week to avoid a government shutdown.

He also serves as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

The now-speaker pro tempore is an ally of McCarthy’s, voting “no” on the motion to remove him from the speakership Tuesday. He adamantly denied allegations from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who brought forward the motion to vacate, that McCarthy made a “secret deal” with House Democrats to gain their support on the temporary spending deal.

McHenry has praised House Republicans for their work on the continuing resolution, saying that the deal will not leave any parties happy but that the GOP should take the “wins” in the bill and move on to the “next fight,” which should be the 2024 elections.

What happens now that McHenry is speaker pro tempore?

After the office of speaker was declared vacant, McHenry took the gavel and recessed the House for conference meetings.

Now, both Democrats and Republicans will have time to decide who their nominee is for speaker.

It is unclear who the GOP defectors plan to nominate for the speakership, although it’s possible McCarthy could throw his hat back in the ring to be reelected.

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One GOP member with direct knowledge of the conversations said holdouts do have a handful of people in mind, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), and Reps. Mark Green (R-TN), Kevin Hern (R-OK), and Jodey Arrington (R-TX). All of these members voted against the motion to remove McCarthy.

It is also unknown how long the House will remain in recess or if the chamber will be back in session sometime later on Tuesday. The House was expected to go into recess on Friday.