It was like 97% backing McCarthy but still he went out.
How is that possible?
Due to a recent rule change that occurred when McCarthy was originally chosen as Speaker, it only takes 1 member to call for a change of speaker. The vote to remove him was 216 to 210, which is a majority.
The Republican majority is so thin, that all it took was 8 or 9 of them to vote no when they called the vote (which itself was only callable because it was a shitshow for Republicans to elect a Speaker a year ago and there was a rule change to satisfy the Gaetz crew (i.e. a rule change that permitted them to do exactly this)).
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-vote-mccarthy-speaker-rol...
Pelosi removed this rule when she was speaker, but to be fair she was also really good at getting her party to stay in line.
It will be interesting to see if Republicans take that rule away to avoid another mess if they manage to vote in a new speaker.
Pretty sure this rule has never existed before because of the exact problem it’s caused.
"Under rules negotiated in January during McCarthy’s tumultuous first election, any member of the House can motion to vacate the chair — a procedural move that will force a vote to remove the speaker. That was how the process worked until 2019, when then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi significantly raised the threshold."