Lindsey Graham jokes that he's too sane to try to replace Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House

• Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina joked that he's too sane to assume the House speakership.
• Fellow Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia playfully told Graham that he could compete for the position.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham doesn't think he's up for the job of Speaker of the House — but that's because he's not crazy enough to apply.

After the House on Tuesday ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California as speaker, questions surrounding the California Republican's successor immediately started buzzing on Capitol Hill.

Graham, who served in the House for eight years before his election to the Senate, said that "the House is in Chaos" after the McCarthy vote, according to NBC News.

"There's probably a reason this has never happened in the history of the country," the South Carolina lawmaker told the outlet. "We've been around for 200-some years. Everybody before us thought this wasn't a good idea. I think, when it's all said and done, people will look back and say: That's not a good idea. But it is what it is."

Then, according to NBC, Sen. Tim Kaine approached Graham and teased that he could be the next speaker.

"Hey Lindsey, you know you don't have to be a member of the House to be chosen speaker," the Virginia Democrat told Graham.

Graham quickly shut down any indication that he would attempt to take on the role.

"Yeah, but you've got to be sane," the GOP lawmaker replied, according to NBC News. "And I'm sane enough to say no."

The early signs of McCarthy's struggles with conservative hardliners were plainly evident even before he assumed the speakership in January.

McCarthy for months was unable to corral several members of the Freedom Caucus into backing his bid for speaker, which was reflected in the 15 rounds of voting that it took to install him in the position.

In order to secure the speakership, McCarthy agreed to a stipulation that would allow one member to file a "motion to vacate," a tool that could be used to remove him from the position via a chamber-wide vote.

On Tuesday, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who has long quarreled with McCarthy, was able to get the vote, which saw eight Republicans join 208 Democrats to remove the GOP leader from the position that he had long coveted.

And McCarthy in an evening press briefing announced that he wouldn't seek the speakership again.

Whoever succeeds McCarthy will have to manage a fractious 221-person GOP majority, with issues including immigration policy and government spending that now loom over the chamber with even greater urgency.