Republican Texas Rep. Troy Nehls nominated former President Donald Trump for speaker of the House Tuesday shortly after Kevin McCarthy announced he would not be running again.
“Kevin McCarthy will NOT be running again as Speaker. I nominate Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the House,” Nehls said on Twitter.
“This week, when the U.S. House of Representatives reconvenes, my first order of business will be to nominate Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives,” Nehls said. “President Trump, the greatest President of my lifetime, has a proven record of putting America First and will make the House great again.”
Shortly after McCarthy was ousted as speaker of the House, the GOP held a conference meeting where he announced to members that he would not be running for speaker again. Shortly after the meeting, Nehls announced that he would be nominating Trump.
“Im not going to sell my soul to Democrats. I’ll still work to get you elected — maybe not all of you because i’m a free agent. When we come out of the next vote, let’s elect that person on the first round. If i have to be the sacrifice, so be it,” McCarthy reportedly told members of the conference during the closed door meeting.
Kevin McCarthy will NOT be running again as Speaker.
I nominate Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the House.
— Congressman Troy E. Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) October 3, 2023
The U.S. House voted Tuesday to remove McCarthy as speaker after Democrats joined with eight House Republicans to vote for a motion to vacate the chair. (RELATED: House Votes To Remove Kevin McCarthy As Speaker)
Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz filed the motion to vacate the chair Monday night, which then picked up the support of Democrats. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries “definitively” called for a vote against any procedural motion to delay the motion to vacate the chair earlier Tuesday and also said Democrats should vote to remove McCarthy.
Before the actual vote, there was a motion to table the vote, which failed with 11 Republicans voting against the motion. (RELATED: Trump Team Pushes Back On Media Claims That They ‘Forgot’ To Request Jury Trial In NY)
The final vote on the motion to vacate was 216-210. Gaetz, along with Republican Reps. Bob Good, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Matt Rosendale, Andy Biggs, Ken Buck and Nancy Mace voted for the motion to vacate the chair.