Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Wednesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we report on the backlash former Rep. Mondaire Jones is receiving over his social media criticism of ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy‘s meeting with Hasidic leaders earlier this year, and spotlight a new anthology that looks at antisemitism over the centuries. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Nikema Williams, Marty Baron and Helen Mirren.
The House made history yesterday by voting to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as the chamber’s speaker. Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Ken Buck (R-CO), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Bob Good (R-VA), Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Matt Rosendale (R-MT) were the eight Republicans who voted with Democrats to boot McCarthy. The final vote tally was 216-210.
McCarthy will not run for the speakership again, leaving a leadership vacuum at the top of the increasingly fractious and divided Republican conference as it approaches an election year. The new speaker will help set the future direction of the Republican Party, at a time when former President Donald Trump holds a commanding lead for the GOP presidential nomination and his MAGA brand of politics is ascendant within the party.
Potential replacement speakers floated yesterday run the ideological gamut, and include House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), Republican Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Rules Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK), Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH), Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-OK) and Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the latter of whom is serving as speaker pro tem until a new speaker is selected. The House will remain leaderless until at least next Wednesday, when it’s set to hold new speaker elections.
Some of the potential candidates, like Jordan, would reflect the party’s sharp move to the populist right in the last decade. Jordan was one of the founding members of the right-wing Freedom Caucus — at a time when it was seen by party leaders as an ideologically extreme nuisance. Now its brand of right-wing antagonism could be in charge of the lower chamber.
McCarthy’s defeat is another reminder that the Republican Party is now moving in a more populist direction — on everything from its outreach to striking autoworkers to support for a more isolationist American foreign policy. Many of the party’s leading figures from the recent past are leaving the political scene: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) just announced his retirement, while former Vice President Mike Pence’s broadside against populism isn’t resonating with today’s GOP voters.
A decade ago, McCarthy himself was touted as part of a new generation of House GOP leadership. All three of those so-called “Young Guns” — McCarthy, former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) — have been rejected by the Republican Party.
McCarthy’s ouster also presents new questions about the future of Ukraine aid. McCarthy was reportedly planning to bring forward a supplemental Ukraine aid measure, but it’s not clear that the next GOP speaker would continue down that path, with a near-majority of the conference in opposition. McCarthy drew parallels between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler during a press conference on Tuesday evening.
Democrats plan to continue supporting Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for the speakership, No. 3 House Democrat Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) told reporters immediately following the vote to oust McCarthy. Some, however, have indicated their willingness to vote for a Republican, in exchange for some concessions.
During a floor speech in support of McCarthy, Stefanik highlighted McCarthy’s support for Israel. Meanwhile, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said on social media after the vote that McCarthy had done “more than any other [speaker] to strengthen the bond between our legislatures.”
The new speaker will come into office with just weeks to finalize 2024 government funding or pass another stopgap funding bill — the move that ultimately doomed McCarthy — before a new shutdown deadline ahead of Thanksgiving.
taking heat
Mondaire Jones defends criticism of McCarthy meeting with Hasidic leaders

Former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) is facing scrutiny over an ambiguously worded post on X, formerly known as Twitter, criticizing ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for meeting with Orthodox Jewish leaders in a Hudson Valley swing district where Jones is now seeking to reclaim his old congressional seat, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Immediate backlash: “Well this was a waste of everyone’s time,” Jones wrote after McCarthy lost his bid to remain as speaker on Tuesday afternoon, sharing a photo of a yarmulke-clad McCarthy courting support from Hasidic leaders last March in Rockland County alongside Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), whom Jones hopes to challenge. The tweet drew immediate backlash from commentators who voiced skepticism over what Jones’ message had meant to imply — with some critics calling his comment disrespectful to the Jewish community.
On the defensive: In a statement to JI on Tuesday evening, Jones defended the tweet and suggested that critics were misreading his remarks. “As I stated in my tweet, Kevin McCarthy has repeatedly wasted the time of Hasidic leaders in the Lower Hudson Valley,” he insisted. “He has never delivered for communities in Rockland and will continue to fail to deliver for Rocklanders because he’s no longer Speaker. By contrast, I have delivered for all communities in Rockland and will continue that track record upon my return to Congress.”
Crucial voting bloc: In recent months, McCarthy has made several pilgrimages to the Hudson Valley as he has sought to build relationships with Orthodox community members in Rockland County, who were largely credited with propelling Lawler to an upset victory over former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) last cycle. Rockland County, which for now sits entirely within Lawler’s House district, is home to the largest Jewish population per capita of any county in the U.S.