The long-running feud between Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) goes back further than Tuesday’s historic vote to oust McCarthy as House speaker.
Gaetz has long been McCarthy’s most vocal opponent — dramatically voting “present” instead of endorsing the California Republican’s bid for the gavel in January.
McCarthy has repeatedly claimed Gaetz held a grudge against him for rejecting his demands that McCarthy intervene in an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation.
“He blamed me for the ethics complaint against him that happened in the last Congress. I had nothing to do with it,” McCarthy told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” just hours before he was voted out.
Gaetz, who is rumored to be running for governor of Florida in 2026, is being monitored by an ethics panel over allegations of sexual misconduct, illegal drug use and campaign finance violations and accepting bribes.
Many members of Congress – including fellow Republicans – are reportedly eager to impeach the Sunshine State politician if he is found guilty of wrongdoing.
Kevin McCarthy is ousted as Speaker of the House by a vote on October 3, 2023.AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
“He wants me to try to wipe him out … I’m not going to do that. That’s illegal,” McCarthy said Tuesday morning. “And you know what? If there is any way I can lose my job because I uphold the law [and the] the continuity of the kingdom, so be it.”
The Republican-controlled House Ethics Committee quietly reopened its investigation into Gaetz last July, CNN reported.
The investigation originally opened in April 2021 alongside a Justice Department investigation into allegations that Gaetz was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.
Eight Republicans joined every Democrat to vote for McCarthy.C-SPAN via ReutersRep. Matt Gaetz said he wants McCarthy removed as speaker because of his lack of commitment to cutting spending.Reuters TV
Federal officials concluded their two-year investigation in February without bringing any criminal charges, but sources told CNN the Justice Department’s decision will not affect what the committee will and will not investigate.
Details of the investigation have long been classified, but centered on Gaetz’s alleged involvement in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use; share inappropriate images or videos on the Home floor; misused national identification records; convert campaign funds to personal use; and accepting bribes.
Gaetz has long pleaded not guilty to both the investigation’s claims and McCarthy’s contention that the Floridian blamed the former House Speaker for the revived investigation.
Gaetz initially did not support McCarthy’s bid for Speaker in January. Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images
Instead, Gaetz insisted he pushed for McCarthy’s ouster because the California congressman was not serious about supporting spending cuts, and claimed Sunday that the speaker had negotiated a secret deal with President Biden to secure aid for Ukraine while advocating a freeze on government funding that did not include aid to war-torn country. (McCarthy has denied any such arrangement.)
“When Kevin McCarthy comes out publicly and says, ‘It’s not about me breaking my word, it’s because Gaetz has an ethics problem,’ of course, that’s him blaming the Ethics Committee,” Gaetz told CNN’s “State of the Union” host. . Jake Tapper.
“But here’s the thing, I’m not alone. People can say this is party one. I have tens of millions of Americans backing me up on this. And I have the necessary number of Republicans, enough numbers, to make sure we don’t have another Kevin McCarthy.”
McCarthy claims Gaetz has a grudge against him because he refused to intervene in the House Ethics Committee’s ongoing investigation into him.REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Gaetz was one of more than a dozen right-wing Republicans who refused to back McCarthy’s bid for speaker in January, though that hurdle didn’t stop McCarthy from getting the gavel after 15 rounds of voting.
As a condition of winning the January vote, McCarthy agreed to a rule change that would allow any member to call a vote to oust the speaker, setting the stage for Gaetz’s move this week.
No speaker of the US House has previously been removed from the post, which ranks second in the line of succession for the presidency after the vice president.
By Postal Wire
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
