To become Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy was compelled to change a rule, to enable a single lawmaker to move to oust him.
It was one of many actions he took – over 15 consecutive rounds of voting in January – to win the support of the hard-right of the Republican Party.
But in the end, perhaps none of it was enough to appease some of his members.
Matt Gaetz, a pugnacious Florida congressman, vowed on Sunday to trigger Mr McCarthy’s removal this week.
That was in response to the Speaker securing Democratic support to pass an eleventh-hour funding bill that narrowly averted a government shutdown.
The spending measure left out additional funding for Ukraine because Mr Gaetz and other hard-liners have insisted the US can no longer afford to fund its defence against Russia.
But Mr Gaetz alleged in a Monday speech that the Speaker had cut “a secret side deal” with President Joe Biden and Democrats to bring new funding to a vote in separate legislation soon.
BBC