Chief instigator of GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) announced Sunday his intention to file a motion to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — but the California Republican brushed off the threat, saying “I’ll stand.”
Gaetz has long dangled the motion to vacate over McCarthy’s head and pointed to the speaker’s recent move to avoid a government shutdown on Saturday.
“I intend to file a motion to vacate speaker McCarthy this week,” Gaetz told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday.
“The deal that he made with the Democrats to really get over a lot of the spending fences that we put in place was the last one,” the right-wing campaigner continued.
“Yesterday, I learned that Kevin McCarthy had a secret deal with the Democrats in Ukraine. So when he baited Republicans into voting for a continuing resolution without Ukraine money… then turned around and made a secret deal.”
Democratic leadership said Saturday that they expect an up-or-down vote on additional funding for Ukraine shortly after the House reconvenes.
Matt Gaetz has vowed to file a motion to oust Speaker Kevin McCathy.MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockMatt Gaetz has long been a thorn in the side of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.AFP via Getty Images
McCarthy, however, struck a defiant tone Sunday and blamed Gaetz for his hard-fought efforts to shore up the border and score another conservative victory.
“I’m going to survive,” McCarthy told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “You know this is personal with Matt. Matt voted against the most conservative ability to protect our borders. He’s more interested in getting a TV interview than doing something.”
“Bring it. Let’s get over it,” added McCarthy. “Gaetz is trying to work with the Democrats, he’s contacted Swalwell, the AOC, and others. But if that’s the way we’re going to govern, I don’t think America is going to succeed.”
McCarthy and his Republican allies have put forward a variety of bills to avoid a government shutdown that feature various spending cuts, border security and other wish-list items.
But after enough GOP hardliners rejected all iterations of the proposal, McCarthy issued a last-minute aborted continuing resolution to keep the government open for another 45 days with disaster aid and no Ukraine funding.
Democrats took a victory lap and stitched up House Republicans for ‘giving up’ on the continuing resolution.Getty Images
The measure, which was presented to Democrats early Saturday with little time to review it and was effectively non-binding, passed the House 335 to 91, with one Democrat and then only one Republican opposed.
Gaetz, himself, has vowed to oppose in principle any continuing resolution, or CR measure, to avoid a government shutdown, instead demanding that Congress pass 12 traditional appropriations bills to keep the government lights on.
“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 narrowly missed out on the speaker’s gavel in January after an unprecedented marathon of 15 votes.
At the time, Republicans had a five-seat majority and McCarthy didn’t have the votes to spare. Gaetz had voted “present” at the time to help him.
Now, Republicans have a four-seat majority thanks to the resignation of Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Ut.)
Matt Gaetz accused Kevin McCarthy of breaking his deal with Republicans to seize the speaker’s gavel.REUTERS
Ironically, for his motion to vacate the seat to succeed, Gaetz will need to rely on Democratic support.
“I will not make a deal with the Democrats and will not give them any conditions. I actually think Democrats should vote against Speaker McCarthy for free,” he said.
McCarthy agreed to lower the threshold for submitting a motion to vacate to one vote during his grovel for the gavel. The motion needs a majority vote to pass.
It remains unclear whether Democrats will support efforts to impeach McCarthy.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday urged her fellow Democrats to follow Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Calif.) on how to handle motions to vacate.
“Follow the leader,” he told CNN.
Kevin McCarthy has effectively dared rebel Republicans to file a motion to oust him.ZUMAPRESS.com
Although he howled at McCarthy for supporting CR, Gaetz voted for the same bill under the Trump administration.
“I have been voting calmly for five years to continue the resolution and I should note that during those years, President Trump was expanding the economy,” he said.
Without CR, the government will shut down on Saturday at 11:59 pm during the start of fiscal year 2024 because Congress has not passed all 12 appropriations bills to fund the government.
Host Jake Tapper reprimanded Gaetz on some of his demands during the government shutdown talks, including calls to cut funding for those investigating former President Donald Trump.
“To me, the language is someone looking for clicks and likes and Fox bashing — not someone who’s actually trying to reduce debt,” Tapper said.
Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown, with little time to spare on Saturday. Aristide Economopoulos
Gaetz dismissed the criticism and emphasized the growing US debt, while criticizing the congressional process that led to it.
The Florida representative remains a clear minority in the Republican conference, with many moderates increasingly condemning his actions.
He is rumored to be mulling a future run for Florida governor.
At least one agitated member of the Legislature is considering a push to fire Gaetz if he doesn’t get an explanation from his ongoing ethics investigation, CNN reported.
In the meantime, McCarthy has sought to proceed with consideration of the remaining appropriations bills needed to fully fund the government.
House Republicans’ top-line funding numbers are at odds with what the Democratic-controlled White House and Senate are seeking.
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