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U.S. Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson votes against ousting Kevin McCarthy as House speaker

U.S. Rep. Glenn "G.T." Thompson, R-Centre County, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro talk before the Government and Industry Day lunch Wednesday, Aug. 9, that's held as part of the Penn State College of Agricultural Science's annual Ag Progress Days at the Larson Research Center at Rock Springs in Centre County.
Anne Danahy
/
WPSU
In this file photo, U.S. Rep. Glenn "G.T." Thompson, R-Centre County, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro talk before the Government and Industry Day lunch Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, that's part of the Penn State's Ag Progress Days in Centre County.

Pennsylvania Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson, who was one of the 210 Republicans who voted against removing Kevin McCarthy from his job as speaker of the U.S. House on Tuesday, called the move a distraction by "shameless self-promoters."

Eight Republicans in the U.S. House broke from their party. Joined by Democrats, the Republicans who led the effort had enough votes to strip McCarthy of his position as speaker.

Thompson, a Republican from Centre County, issued a statement after the vote taking aim at those behind it.

"Today’s vote was nothing but a distraction from a handful of shameless self-promoters," Thompson's statement said. "Their form of demagoguery doesn’t work without a foil. Now, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves."

Thompson represents Pennsylvania’s sprawling 15th district. He’s also chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, and has been working to pass the Farm Bill. It expired at the end of September. It’s unclear what impact the turmoil in the House will have on its passage.

U.S. Rep. John Joyce, a Republican who represents the 13th district in south central Pennsylvania, also voted against removing McCarthy.

The vote made McCarthy the first speaker to be ousted from the position.

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Anne Danahy has been a reporter at WPSU since fall 2017. Before crossing over to radio, she was a reporter at the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pennsylvania, and she worked in communications at Penn State. She is married with cats.