Rep. Progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Sunday she “absolutely” intends to support a motion to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“At all. I think Kevin McCarthy is a very poor speaker. He’s clearly lost control of his caucus,” the New York Democrat told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
His remarks were a slight concession from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Sunday, who implored Democrats to take their cue from Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
The congressman has kept his cards close to the right on the issue, at least in public.
“Follow the leader,” Pelosi told CNN.
Privately, Pelosi has warned Jeffries to be careful about throwing McCarthy a lifeline because of concerns the Republican can’t be trusted, Politico reported.
Jeffries is reportedly interested in Democrats at least staying together on the matter.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California lashed out Sunday when asked if she plans to support efforts to oust current GOP Speaker Kevin McCarthy as a lifeline. AFP via Getty Images New York progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said she plans to vote for fellow Big Apple Congressman Hakeem Jeffries for House speaker.AP
Democrats have been frustrated by McCarthy’s reneging on the top discretionary spending amount agreed upon during the debt limit impasse.
Ocasio-Cortez said her party would likely refuse to bail out the speaker involved.
“I certainly don’t think we’re going to see that unless there’s a real conversation between the Republican and Democratic caucuses,” he said. “I don’t think we are [will] give up votes for free.”
GOP lobbyist Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) announced his intention Sunday to file a motion to vacate the seat — in other words, to oust McCarthy.
Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz needs support from Democrats to successfully unseat Speaker Kevin McCarthy but insists he won’t give up anything to get Dem support. AFP via Getty Images
His threat came after McCarthy tabled a “continuing resolution” to fund the government for 47 days and effectively averted a shutdown without any strings to a floor vote on Saturday, putting his right wing on hold.
To succeed, the motion must obtain a majority of votes. Republicans have a four-seat majority.
Democrats can save him by voting “present” to lower the threshold for him to win.
They did not do so in January when he faced an unprecedented 15 votes to lock up the hammer.
AOC has emerged as a rising star in progressive circles.AFP via Getty Images
At the time, the Republican Party had a five-seat majority, and McCarthy had no votes to cast when he assumed the speakership. Former Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) resigned at that time, and the seat remains unfilled.
Some Democrats have privately floated their demands in exchange for hypothetically giving McCarthy a lifeline.
For example, AOC women’s progressive “Squad” member, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), recently told MSNBC some of his colleagues might agree to bail out if McCarthy agrees to a 50-50 power-sharing deal.
McCarthy, for his part, publicly and privately sought to downplay the threat of a motion to vacate.
“You think I’m afraid of the motion to vacate. Go ahead and do it. I’m not afraid,” McCarthy reportedly told the court earlier this month.
McCarthy has effectively dared his GOP critics to try to oust him.REUTERS
He spent weeks gauging support for various iterations of continuing resolutions to keep the kingdom’s lights on.
Most of them featured conservative wish-list items like deep spending cuts and strengthened border security.
But he couldn’t peel enough of the hard line and chose to pass a “clean” continuing resolution.
The measure, which featured no funding for Ukraine but $16 billion in domestic disaster aid, passed the House 335 to 91, with one Democrat and then only one Republican opposed.
The Speaker of the House helped avoid a government shutdown at the last minute.REUTERS
Critics like Gaetz have lambasted the government’s funding process, citing the nation’s rapidly growing $33 trillion debt.
Ocasio-Cortez emphasized that progressives strive to be fiscally responsible managers.
“I vehemently disagree with any claim that progressivism is somehow incompatible with fiscal responsibility,” he said. “Progressivism believes in making investments that actually have a return.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
