'Pigsty of incompetence.' Washington's Congress members comment after McCarthy is ousted from speaker role

Washington state's congressional delegation was split along party lines in Tuesday's House vote the ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his job.

All eight of Washington's Congressional Democrats voted to remove McCarthy. The state's two Republicans, Dan Newhouse and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, voted to keep him.

RELATED: McCarthy becomes first speaker removed by U.S. House vote

But McCarthy's fate was sealed when eight hardline Republicans joined Democrats to vote him out of the speaker's role. The final vote was 2016 to 210.

McCarthy's role as speaker had a rough start. It took 15 rounds of votes and deal-making within his own party for him to get the job in January 2023. Recently, a hard-right faction within the GOP threatened to remove him amid bipartisan negotiations to keep the federal government open.

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida filed a motion Tuesday that called for the vote that ended McCarthy's tenure as speaker. It is the first time in United States history that a speaker has been removed in this way.

Before the vote Tuesday, McCarthy commented that if he is removed — by "a handful of Republicans" — for helping keep the government open, then it was a "fight worth having."

Shortly after the vote, Washington's representatives in D.C. began commenting on the reasons behind their votes.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who represents Washington's 7th Congressional District which covers much of Seattle, said Tuesday that a lack of trust in Speaker McCarthy was a major factor for her. She also said Congress should let Republicans deal with their own problem and "let them wallow in their pigsty of incompetence and inability to govern."

Jayapal also issued a statement that she does not find joy in the "disfunction" among the GOP.

Congressmember Suzan DelBene from Washington's 1st Congressional District issued a statement supporting Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries, who leads the Democrat Caucus.

“House Republicans have proven once again that they cannot govern. From day one of this Congress, they have put their extreme, unpopular agenda ahead of the interests of the country," DelBene said. "They have lurched from one manufactured crisis to another trying to get their way, putting families and our economy at risk. House Republicans alone started this leadership crisis and they alone can resolve it."

Congressmember Derek Kilmer from Washington's 6th Congressional District said that he expects the process of selecting a new speaker to be "messy," but he hopes Republicans will "embrace a smarter path forward."

"I spent four years chairing a committee to strengthen the U.S. House as an institution because I care passionately about a Congress that can solve problems for the American people," Kilmer said. "Unfortunately, Speaker McCarthy has repeatedly chosen to weaken the institution by bending to extremists rather than collaborating across the aisle. He has inherited the chaos he has sown."

Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said shortly before the vote that she stood with McCarthy.