NASHVILLE — U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, was one of eight Republicans who joined with 208 Democrats to knock Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-California, from his position as House speaker Tuesday.
The small group of hardline Republicans staged the ouster as a result of McCarthy forging a last-minute deal with Democrats over the weekend to approve a funding measure to prevent a government shutdown.
Seven other Republican members of Tennessee’s nine-member congressional delegation, including U.S. Reps. Chuck Fleischmann of Southeast Tennessee and Scott DesJarlais, R-Sherwood, voted against ouster. U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a Memphis Democrat, voted for McCarthy’s removal.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Northwest Georgia, and eight of her fellow Georgia Republican colleagues supported McCarthy continuing as speaker. The state’s five Democrats supported removing him.
“I guess, just me personally, I just have to make a choice,” Burchett said on Fox Business earlier in the day. “Am I going to vote for my friend Kevin McCarthy or am I going to vote with my conscience?”