Kevin McCarthy ousted as Speaker of the House: Live updates – CNN

Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy was removed as House speaker following a revolt from within his own party and went into the vote without a crucial ally who helped propel him to leadership in January — Donald Trump.  

The former president, who is currently preoccupied with his civil fraud trial in New York, purposefully did not participate in the latest fight between Republicans, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN. 

Trump, who has allies on both sides of the speaker fight, currently believes there is little political upside to wading into the power struggle, the sources said. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who has led the effort to topple McCarthy, has endorsed Trump’s 2024 presidential bid and serves as a surrogate to his campaign.

“He did his thing for Kevin when he ran for speaker, but at the same time DJT has his own stuff to focus on, and he can’t be sticking his neck out whenever there’s a fight in the House, especially when he has people who endorse him on both sides,” one Trump ally told CNN. 

The former president, who spent the weekend campaigning in Iowa before traveling to Manhattan to attend his trial, has also said little about the congressional battle, his advisers said. 

One senior adviser who regularly travels with Trump told CNN, “He hasn’t mentioned the speaker fight once. If he was interested in getting involved, he would bring it up.”

Trump’s decision to remain uninvolved is a stark contrast from his efforts to aid McCarthy earlier this year. In January, as McCarthy battled through more than a dozen votes in his bid to become speaker, the former president stepped in at the 11th hour to lobby GOP holdouts to stand down. 

Trump made calls to his fiercest supporters on McCarthy’s behalf, including Gaetz and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, among others. And when McCarthy eventually secured the gavel on the 15th ballot, he immediately thanked the former president for his support.

It’s unclear whether Trump may ultimately change his mind and decide to insert himself into the speaker fight, especially if it drags out for days as it did earlier year. But as of Tuesday afternoon, the former president has issued only vague statements about the congressional infighting and avoided taking a side.

When was asked about Gaetz’s efforts to oust McCarthy during a campaign stop in Iowa on Sunday, Trump told reporters, “I don’t know anything about those efforts, but I like both of them very much.”

Trump, further pushed by reporters on whether he expected McCarthy to prevail, added that he “didn’t want to comment” on the fight, noting, “I’ve always had a great relationship [with McCarthy] when he said very nice things.” 

On Tuesday, moments before the House began voting on the effort led by Gaetz to remove McCarthy from his role, Trump issued a broad statement about the internal squabbling on Truth Social. 

“Why is it that Republicans are always fighting among themselves, why aren’t they fighting the Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our Country?” Trump wrote.