As the only still-serving coauthor and cosponsor of the motion to vacate Speaker Boehner, I can tell you, the motion to vacate the Speaker was a terrible idea.
From my perspective, the House has been functioning better, more transparently, and more conservatively, with Speaker McCarthy than it did with Speaker Boehner or Speaker Ryan. We have issues, but replacing Speaker McCarthy won’t magically fix them. In fact, it could get worse.
Some have asked how could it get worse. Here’s one bad scenario: In the new Speaker election, a candidate wins not by getting 218 Republican votes but instead by getting some Democrat votes in exchange for letting their bad bills come to the floor or otherwise sharing power.
I expressed another concern to Reason magazine shortly before the House voted to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy:
"If Kevin fails today, we're going to get the Schumer-McConnell special," he says, referring to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–NY) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R–KY), who Massie believes will have the upper hand in any dealings with a leaderless House GOP caucus.
"And it's going to be an omnibus," Massie added, "and it's not going to be pretty."