The eight House Republicans who voted to end Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s speakership played directly into the hands of Democrats.

Eight Republicans joined with House Democrats Tuesday to make McCarthy the first speaker in U.S. history to be voted out of office by members of his own party.

These include representatives Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Matt Rosendale of Montana. They make up only 4% of House Republicans, yet their alliance with Democrats enabled them to override the support of the majority of the Republican party and boot McCarthy. 

These representatives lack a plan or even a shared goal, but that didn’t slow them down. 

“Washington must change,” Gaetz, who led the motion, said on Twitter. “We must put the House of Representatives on a better course. McCarthy has failed to take a stand where it matters. So if he won’t, I will.”

The eight Republican rogues raised concerns about McCarthy’s judgement on government spending and the growing national debt. Regardless of his track record on these issues, McCarthy’s removal and the resulting open speaker seat will prevent Republican representatives from getting any real work done.

Without a speaker, the House can’t vote on legislation that matters to Americans. Republicans have control of the House, but thanks to Gaetz and company, they won’t be able to use their majority to pass legislation on any number of issues, including abortion, investigating President Joe Biden, or securing the border. 

The House nominated Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, N.C., as acting speaker for up to three legislative days. His primary job will be appointing another speaker, meaning that will be the House’s only order of business for three days or more. 

So far, Republican representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Tom Emmer of Minnesota, and Kevin Hern of Oklahoma have thrown their names into the ring to replace McCarthy. 

Judging by the fact that it took 15 rounds of voting across four days to appoint McCarthy in the first place, and House Republicans are still divided on priorities, it’s unlikely that appointing a replacement will be a quick or easy process.

Democrats made no effort to save McCarthy’s speakership, showing that Gaetz, who considers himself an “America first” conservative, ended up making Democratic dreams come true by removing McCarthy. 

Even former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Gaetz, said the ouster was a waste of time.

“Why is it that Republicans are always fighting among themselves, why aren’t they fighting the Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our country?” Trump wrote on TruthSocial.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is no friend of McCarthy, agreed, arguing that the motion to vacate was “performative” and “the typical theatrics that we’re used to seeing.” DeSantis has said that the former speaker is “really someone that Donald Trump has backed and put in that position” and that McCarthy didn’t deliver adequate results during his time in office.

Despite claims that they were holding the House accountable for not getting things done, the Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy guaranteed absolutely nothing would get done for days. 

All they succeeded in was drawing attention to themselves and diverting the House’s attention away from issues of national importance toward petty partisan politics.

Elizabeth Troutman is a senior studying politics and journalism.