Centrist House Republicans upset by the historic ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy are scrambling to prevent a similar political earthquake in the future by forcing a major rule change.
Currently, the House allows a member to force a floor vote on a motion to vacate a seat, the parliamentary mechanism of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) successfully used it against McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday.
McCarthy himself agreed to lower the threshold for a floor vote on a motion to vacate during his successful negotiations with right-wing Republicans, who helped win him over in January.
“I am not supporting ANYONE for Speaker until there is a commitment to renew the Motion to Vacate,” Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.) posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“The coup against Speaker McCarthy was SMALL & cannot happen again. No one can govern effectively while threatened by fringe hostage-takers.”
Kevin McCarthy was ousted as Speaker of the House on Tuesday. AP
?I am not supporting ANYONE for Speaker until there is a commitment to renew the Motion to Vacate.
The coup against Speaker McCarthy was SMALL & cannot happen again.
No one can govern effectively while threatened by fringe hostage takers.https://t.co/HtWTF0jquo
— Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) October 4, 2023
Historically, the threshold to force a floor vote sat at one, but former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) raised it to a majority of any party during her tenure after some Republicans threatened to deploy it against former Speaker John Boehner (R). . -Ohio) in 2015.
“The ability for one person to unseat the Speaker of the House will preserve this body’s hold until 2024,” the centrist Republican Main Street Caucus said in a statement.
“Personal politics can no longer be used to defeat the will of the conservative 96% of the House. Any candidate for Speaker must explain to us how what happened on Tuesday will not happen again,” added the group, which is made up of 68 Republican members.
Currently, the House allows a member to force a floor vote for a motion to vacate a seat, a parliamentary mechanism Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) was successfully used against McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday.REUTERS
One of McCarthy’s main allies, Rep. Garrett Graves (R-La.) issued a letter to his colleagues Wednesday underscoring the need to change the rules.
“The injustice we all witnessed yesterday cannot be left unaddressed—if we are to take responsibility for the consequences,” he wrote. “Our conference must address fundamental changes to our majority structure to ensure success for the American people.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) even suggested scrapping the motion to completely vacate the House rules.
So the way moderates want to punish me is to make it harder to remove Speaker Jordan or Speaker Scalise?
OH NO!
ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!! https://t.co/T1mxltVmUR
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) October 4, 2023
“I hope whoever the next speaker is can get rid of the motion to vacate,” he said. “I think it makes the speaker’s job impossible, and the American people expect us to have a functioning government.”
After being dethroned, McCarthy himself seemed to push the conference to modify the rules to prevent similar exploits in the future.
“I don’t think the rules are good for the institution but it seems I’m the only one,” McCarthy lamented late Tuesday during farewell remarks and a news conference.
McCarthy is the first speaker of the House of Representatives to be ousted by a motion to vacate, which has only been filed three times in US history.
Boehner resigned in 2015 before the motion was voted on and former House Speaker Joseph Cannon (R-Ill.) survived a motion to vacate in 1910.
Mike Lawler, a GOP freshman from NY’s swing district, told me he would support removing Matt Gaetz from the House GOP Conference, calling his behavior “disgraceful.” “In my opinion, yes,” he said, when asked if he would support kicking him out of the House GOP. pic.twitter.com/CQHrbH5YdZ
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 4, 2023
Statements in support of the rule change highlighted the simmering anger against Gaetz and his seven colleagues who joined 208 Democrats to oust McCarthy.
“So the way the moderates want to punish me is to make it difficult to remove Speaker Jordan or Speaker Scalise? OH NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!!” A fierce Gaetz scoffed in response to Gimenez on the X.
Another idea floated is to expel Gaetz from the House Republican conference depending on how the ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation goes.
McHenry announced Tuesday night that he tentatively plans to hold a speaker candidate forum on Oct. 10, with a full House vote the following day.
Already, two GOP big hitters have thrown their hats into the ring: Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.)
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
