McCarthy ousted, crypto-friendly McHenry to become speaker pro tempore

Kevin McCarthy was ousted as house speaker in a vote held by the House of Representatives on Tuesday. 

The historic outcome marks the first time a vote was successful in ousting the current speaker. Rep. Matt Gaetz filed a motion to vacate in order to strip McCarthy of the post. 

McCarthy is a crypto-friendly Republican, he’s previously admitted that he likes bitcoin and supports the decentralization aspect for cryptocurrencies. Back in 2019 — prior to the collapse of FTX and lenders such as Celsius and BlockFi — he praised blockchain’s ability to revolutionize the security of the financial industry.

In his place, Rep. Patrick McHenry is to become speaker pro tempore. McHenry also has a past of being crypto-friendly, while also chairing committees overseeing digital asset bills.

Back in July, McHenry said that politicians on the Hill were going to take a “historic step for American innovation and consumer protection as we undertake the first ever legislative markup of digital asset legislation.”

He also has signaled support for the Grayscale ruling, as well as questioning the timing of the special purpose broker-dealer approval that Prometheum received.

Back in July, at the makeup session of the stablecoin bill McHenry said, ​​“I had hoped to announce an agreement with the ranking member on stablecoins legislation.” “This will not be the case. […] It was the White House’s unwillingness to compromise that has once again brought that negotiation to a halt.”

The markup was packed with drama, as it devolved into a shouting match, as previously reported by Blockworks. 

The official replacement of McCarthy remains unknown, with the House needing to elect a new speaker. Gaetz has publicly spoken in favor of House Majority Whip Tom Emmer.

---

Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.