Kevin McCarthy has been ousted as speaker. Now what?

The House entered uncharted territory on Tuesday when it voted to oust its 55th speaker, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).

The vote caps off eight months of turbulence as a handful of conservatives repeatedly threatened to depose McCarthy for perceived breaches of the agreement he struck to win the gavel in January. His chief antagonist, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), followed through on that threat Monday, setting up a bitter floor fight that was decided by a handful of votes. But the drama does not end there.

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The chamber must now elect a new speaker, and until that time, a caretaker known as the speaker pro tempore will oversee House business.

That caretaker will be Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), a close ally of McCarthy who helped negotiate the debt ceiling agreement with the White House in the spring. Following House rules, his name was drawn from a private list McCarthy filed with the clerk in January laying out who would act in his stead.

The spectacle of a sitting speaker being deposed is unprecedented. John Boehner, facing a rebellion from his own right flank, resigned in 2015 under threat of a motion to vacate, as the procedure is known, but until Tuesday, none had been successful. In fact, a no-confidence vote had not been called in more than a century.

The vote does not necessarily end McCarthy’s career. Despite his ouster, he has the support of nearly the entire GOP conference. Just eight Republicans voted against him on Tuesday.

With Republicans’ razor-thin margin in the lower chamber, that was enough, but he could run again once a new speaker’s election is held. The timing of that election is unclear. In January, the House could not conduct business until a leader had been selected. But House rules are silent on how long a speaker pro tempore can serve.

Regardless, the chamber is expected to move promptly to fill the vacancy.

Republicans believe McCarthy will run again but are bracing for the prospect of a drawn-out battle should he choose to do so. It took McCarthy 15 rounds to win the gavel the first time.

“It could be that many again,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), among the 20 holdouts opposed to his speakership in January. Norman voted against the motion to vacate on Tuesday.

Hard-line conservatives believe McCarthy violated an informal agreement in which he promised to pursue spending at fiscal 2022 levels. He is doing just that, working through the 12 annual spending bills before a November deadline to fund the government. But the deal he cut with President Joe Biden to lift the debt ceiling, plus his Saturday decision to extend government funding for 45 days with the help of Democrats, convinced Gaetz to attempt his ouster.

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Asked about the prospect of McCarthy running again, Gaetz said the ex-speaker should “take a hint” after the removal vote. He expressed that he could support “at least 100 Republicans in our caucus” as replacements, chief among them McCarthy’s deputy, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).

Other possible contenders for the role include McCarthy’s No. 3, Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN).

Cami Mondeaux contributed to this story.