Matt Gaetz files motion to oust Kevin McCarthy as House speaker as pair spar over social media: B
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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Monday filed a long-expected motion to vacate against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that if successful will strip the California Republican of his speakership.
“Pursuant to clause two A1 of Rule nine, I rise to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges of the House,” Gaetz said on the House floor.
When asked to state the form of his resolution, Gaetz responded, “Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant, resolved that the Office of Speaker of the House of Representatives is hereby declared to be vacant.”
“Bring it on,” McCarthy tweeted, shortly after Gaetz filed his motion, echoing language he used over the weekend when asked about the possibility of his gavel being taken.
House leadership has two days to bring Gaetz’s motion up for a vote, which will require a simple majority to pass.
Gaetz filed the motion just after the lower chamber’s last vote of the day, and the Democratic lawmakers “erupted in laughter as Gaetz left the floor,” according to Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News.
Gaetz has taunted McCarthy by introducing a motion to vacate, which only necessitates one vote to initiate.
McCarthy agreed to lower the threshold of members needed to introduce the motion back in January, as a concession to conservatives opposed to his speakership.
The Florida Republican argues that McCarthy has not been serious in supporting spending cuts, and claims that the speaker has been negotiating a secret deal with President Biden regarding aid for Ukraine while supporting a stopgap measure to fund the government that doesn’t include aid to the war-torn country.
McCarthy has accused Gaetz of harboring personal animosity toward him because of his refusal to intervene in a House Ethics Committee investigation weighing over the Sunshine State lawmaker – a claim Gaetz denies.
“For some people, policy failures are recast as personal because their own failures are personally embarrassing to them,” Gaetz told reporters on Monday. “This isn’t personal, I can cite to the specific elements of House Rules that have been violated.
“Kevin McCarthy agreed to a rule that we would have 72 hours to read legislation. He blew past that. Kevin McCarthy agreed to a rule that we would not put anything over $100 million on the suspension agenda so that it couldn’t be amended. He blew past that. Kevin McCarthy agreed to the Hastert Rule, which is that you would never use the Democrats to roll a majority of the majority, on the last Ukraine supplemental 101 Republicans voted for it. 117 Republicans voted against it. So, does this sound personal to you?” he continued.
“He’s just trying to subjugate his real and significant breaches of our agreement as some sort of personal dispute but that says more about him than it says about what we’re trying to do,” he added.
The House last voted on a motion to remove a speaker in 1910, when an attempt was made to oust former Speaker Joe Cannon (R-Ill.)
“So be it. Bring it on. Let’s get it over with and let’s start governing,” McCarthy told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
“I’ll survive,” he added. “You know this is personal with Matt. Matt voted against the most conservative ability to protect our border. He’s more interested in securing TV interviews than doing something.”
Gaetz acknowledged Monday that his motion is “likely” to fail and said he will be “at peace” with whatever the outcome is, which he sees as one of two possibilities.
“Well, I have enough Republicans where, at this point next week, one of two things will happen. Kevin McCarthy won’t be the speaker of the House or he’ll be the speaker of the House working at the pleasure of the Democrats. And I’m at peace with either result because the American people deserve to know who governs them,” he told reporters.
However, Gaetz vowed to refile his motion if it fails.
“Well, I’m not so pessimistic as to immediately accept that it will fail. I think that’s the likely outcome. But you know, this won’t be the only time. That’s probably all I’ll say on that,” he said.
Most Republican lawmakers are not onboard with Gaetz’s effort to remove McCarthy.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) called the effort “premature” and a “really bad idea” Monday.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also indicated that she would not support booting the House speaker.
“I’m not supporting a motion to vacate. We have less than 45 days to finish our appropriations. We’ve got eight more bills to pass,” she told reporters.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said that privately some Democrats have expressed to him that they will vote in favor of keeping McCarthy in power.
“I’m sure Mr. Gaetz will have some allies who will go with him. But I don’t see enough,” McCaul said.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said Monday that he is “favorably disposed” to voting out McCarthy.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) indicated that his “conscience is telling me to vote him out.”
“We’ve got $33 trillion in debt. We’re not addressing it. We didn’t,” he added, laying blame on the House speaker.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) called the status quo “unacceptable,” arguing that “things need to change.”
“We got nothing,” Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) said of the House’s continuing resolution passed over the weekend, indicating that it is one of the reasons that he’ll be voting to remove McCarthy.
Gaetz said he would hold “no malice toward any Republican who doesn’t support the motion to vacate,” adding that “maybe the last straw for me was learning that Kevin McCarthy had created a secret side deal with President Biden on Ukraine while we were in the middle of this this government funding battle.”
“A secret side deal on Ukraine is not what the American people want to see out of the Republicans,” he added.
McCarthy has denied that he made any side deals with Democrats for their support of the CR.
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