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After another day of voting to determine who will succeed Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., called out Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., calling him a “desperate guy whose vote share is dropping.” McCarthy’s attempt to fill the Speaker’s seat failed again Wednesday night as he did not reach the 218 votes needed.
“He’s a desperate guy whose vote share is dropping with every subsequent vote. And I’m ready to vote all night, all week, all month, and never for that person,” Gaetz claimed after reportedly meeting with McCarthy.
Gaetz also question why McCarthy was allowed to squat in the Speaker’s office after coming in second place in all rounds of voting: “Why is he even allowed to be there?”
Ahead of voting, the Florida congressman made it clear that he would not support McCarthy and nominated Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, for the position instead, according to RSBN.
“Those of us who will not be voting for Kevin McCarthy today take no joy in this discomfort that this moment has brought, but if you want to drain the swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise. I’m a Florida man and I know of what I speak,” Gaetz said in a statement to the press.
“We offered Kevin McCarthy terms last evening that he rejected. We sought a vote in the first quarter of the 118th Congress on term limits. He refused. We wanted a budget…that balances on the floor in the first quarter. He refused. We wanted the border plan that the Texas delegation put together on the floor. He refused. And it is true that we struggle with trust with Mr. McCarthy because time and again, his viewpoints and positions shift like sands underneath you,” he added.
The 118th Congress commenced the search for a new Speaker as Pelosi officially left the role on Tuesday, making her the first woman to lose the speakership twice, RSBN reported.
The chamber remains at a deadlock after McCarthy failed to receive 218 votes and as members voted 216-214 to adjourn for the night. Republican Reps. Andy Biggs, Lauren Boebert, Elijah Crane, and Matt Gaetz were the only GOP members to vote against concluding the night. Every Democrat voted to continue the vote, per Fox News.
