McCarthy becomes the first House Speaker in history to be removed, crypto-friendly McHenry to take over as interim Speaker

Although the U.S. government shutdown crisis has been temporarily averted, Congress remains in turmoil as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been ousted and temporarily replaced by crypto-friendly Congressman Patrick T. McHenry.

McCarthy Becomes the First Speaker to Be Removed from Office

Despite the temporary resolution of the U.S. government shutdown crisis, Congress remains in turmoil. Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz initiated a motion to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, accusing McCarthy of no longer representing the interests of the Republican core team after cooperating with the Democrats to pass a temporary funding bill to avoid a government shutdown. McCarthy was eventually removed with 216 votes in favor and 210 votes against, becoming the first speaker in history to be removed from office.

Crypto-Friendly McHenry Temporarily Assumes Speaker's Role

Crypto-friendly Congressman Patrick T. McHenry will temporarily assume the role of Speaker of the House. McHenry is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, which proposed two bills regulating cryptocurrencies and a bill targeting stablecoins this summer.

McHenry has expressed dissatisfaction with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) multiple times, stating, "When digital asset companies do not know which laws apply to them, and you call them out for not following the law, that is absurd!" According to The Block's report, last week he also threatened to subpoena SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, accusing him of not being transparent with Congress regarding interactions with the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX and SBF.

This marks the first vacancy of the Speaker of the House position in U.S. history. There is no specific provision on how long the temporary speaker can continue in office before a new vote for a permanent speaker is conducted.