Kevin McCarthy ousted as US House speaker

The news: Kevin McCarthy has been ousted as speaker of the US House of Representatives after just nine months, becoming the first person in the role to be voted out in US history.

The numbers: Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives voted 216-210 to remove McCarthy from his leadership position. McCarthy's party controls the chamber by a narrow 221-212 majority, meaning 8 Republicans voted with 208 Democrats to remove him from the post.

The context: The vote was instigated by a group of hard-liners from McCarthy’s own Republican Party and came just days after the speaker relied on Democratic votes to pass temporary funding that headed off a partial government shutdown. The infighting among the Republicans has plunged the US Congress into chaos with no clear replacement for McCarthy, and the House unable to pass appropriations bills to fund the federal government that need to be cleared before mid-November to avoid a government shutdown.