Firebrand Rep. Matt Gaetz on Tuesday threatened to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy if he doesn’t follow through on his commitment to GOP hardliners.
Gaetz (R-Fla.) vowed to move forward with the motion to vacate the seat if McCarthy (R-Calif.) allows a stopgap measure or continuing resolution to receive a floor vote.
“No continuing resolutions, individual spending bills, votes on balanced budgets and term limits,” Gaetz warned.
“Subpoenas for Hunter Biden and members of the Biden family. Impeach Joe Biden. Do this or face a motion to vacate the seat.”
McCarthy has indicated that he supports a continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown by the end of the month.
Every fiscal year, Congress has to fund the government, or it shuts down. During the debt ceiling fight, both sides agreed to fund the government through 12 appropriations bills instead of a massive omnibus bill.
But Congress is far from achieving that before the end of the fiscal year. This is why many lawmakers have opted for a continuing resolution to keep the government open and buy more time.
Matt Gaetz has long been a thorn in the side of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Even Gaetz acknowledged that reality in his floor speech.
“There’s no way to pass all the appropriations bills right now,” Gaetz said. “And it’s not like we don’t know when September 30 will show up on the calendar.”
If Congress fails to act by September 30, either through 12 appropriations bills or a continuing resolution, the government will shut down.
Complicating passage of the appropriations bill is a major disagreement between the House and Senate over spending levels.
Kevin McCarthy is locked in a government shutdown battle. Hard-line Republicans want deeper spending cuts, but Democrats oppose any further concessions. AFP via Getty Images
Although both chambers agreed on top spending levels in the Fiscal Responsibility Act that ended the debt ceiling impasse, McCarthy has bowed to pressure from conservative hardliners and tasked his bosses with crafting a slimmer bill.
McCarthy’s right wing, the House Freedom Caucus, has called for deeper spending cuts.
A motion to vacate requires only one vote to initiate and only requires a few Republicans to unite with Democrats to overturn it, given the GOP’s slim majority in the chamber, which Republicans hold 222 seats to 212.
Kevin McCarthy is facing a brutal month in the lower chamber.AFP via Getty Images
On Monday, McCarthy downplayed threats from Gaetz, who is thinking about working with Democrats to remove him from the speakership.
“Look, Matt’s Matt,” McCarthy said.
Gaetz, who is under an ethics investigation for which his allies have blamed McCarthy, voted “Present” for McCarthy earlier this year to help end his run for the gavel, which garnered an unprecedented 15 votes.
Speaker McCarthy fired back at Rep. Gaetz regarding his ongoing House Ethics investigation
“One thing I made clear, he can threaten all he wants, I’m not going to interject a speaker into an independent ethics committee to influence him in any way,” McCarthy said.
— Haley Talbot (@haleytalbotcnn) September 12, 2023
To break the deadlock and claim the speakership, McCarthy cut many deals with GOP hardliners. Gaetz told him on Tuesday.
“Mr. Speaker, you are not complying with the agreement that allows you to hold this role. The path forward for the House of Representatives is to either bring you into full compliance immediately or remove you,” Gaetz added.
Earlier Tuesday, McCarthy took a step toward one of Gaetz’s demands and announced that he was ordering an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
Speakers announced an impeachment inquiry into President Biden earlier Tuesday.
Congressional Republicans have long scrutinized the Biden family, but enough lawmakers openly oppose the impeachment inquiry to override it.AP
In doing so, McCarthy reneged on his earlier public commitment that “if we move forward with an impeachment inquiry, it will happen by a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives and not by a proclamation by one person.”
The House reconvenes Tuesday after a six-week recess and has 11 days on its legislative calendar before the end of the month.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
