Politics | Oct 7th 2023 Edition

America’s House of Representatives ejected Kevin McCarthy as speaker, the first time in history someone has been ousted from the job. His downfall was initiated by Matt Gaetz, a far-right congressman, after Mr McCarthy secured the passage of a last-minute bill to avoid a government shutdown with Democratic support (the bill keeps the government functioning only until November 17th). Mr Gaetz said it was a sell-out. In the ballot that decided Mr McCarthy’s fate a handful of rebellious Republicans joined the Democrats to fire him.