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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is facing a potential removal as House Speaker because some members of the GOP feel cheated by McCarthy’s compromises on recent spending legislation.
During a closed meeting last month, McCarthy addressed the growing sentiment by GOP members to call a motion to vacate the chair and effectively be removed as House Speaker.
McCarthy allegedly responded to these threats by saying, “If you want to file a motion to vacate, then file the f—ing motion,” according to Rep Brian Mast, R-Fla. McCarthy’s comments followed explicit threats by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla, to file a motion to vacate McCarthy from his position if McCarthy did not fulfill a number of promises made about multiple spending priorities and votes.
McCarthy also appeared on “Fox News Live” last Sunday, discussing the success of avoiding a government shutdown and the possibility of being removed as the House Speaker. During his interview, McCarthy said that Gaetz “probably planned this from the day I became Speaker.” McCarthy is alluding to the struggles he faced to gather enough votes to win the House Speaker position last January.
Later in that same interview, McCarthy added that Gaetz “voted against our most conservative bill” that McCarthy said included measures to help combat the ongoing crisis at the border.
McCarthy also points to Gaetz’s reluctance as one reason for the narrow avoidance of a government shutdown. Gaetz has explicitly said his fight against McCarthy is not personal, which dissents from what McCarthy indicated during his interview on “Fox News Live.”
Gaetz has accused McCarthy of brokering an alleged “secret side deal” about Ukraine with Democrats and the Biden administration in order to ensure the government stays open.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the motion to vacate was not tabled and the House is going to move on to the next vote.
