House GOP rebels recall a distant era when dissidents rose up against 'Czar Cannon'

For those following the continuing crisis on Capitol Hill that has the House Republican majority threatening to force a government shutdown, the term "the motion to vacate the chair" is no doubt familiar.

Vacating a chair may sound like the simple act of standing up. But in the specialized language of congressional procedure, it means standing up to the presiding officer — implicitly challenging that officer's right to preside by threatening to replace the officer altogether.

The phrase, and the procedure, had been bandied about earlier this year in the January melee that finally elevated Speaker Kevin McCarthy to his present job. Rebels from the House Freedom Caucus did not want to allow the California Republican, their titular leader for the last four years, to grasp "the big gavel" unless promised a chance to force his removal.

They wanted any member of the House to be able to force a vote on the speaker's continuation by making a simple "motion to vacate the chair."

"Suicide," said more than a few veterans of Capitol Hill. No speaker would allow that. ballot, McCarthy had apparently assured his skeptics that the tool would be available as they wished.