Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) filed a motion late on Monday to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from his position. Gaetz’s motion to vacate follows accusations that McCarthy made a “secret side deal” with House Democrats over Ukraine relief funds during last week’s budget negotiations—but the Speaker claims the move is driven by a “personal” vendetta.
“Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause two A1 of Rule nine, I rise to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges of House,” Gaetz said during the Monday night Congressional session. “Declaring the office Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant. Resolved that the office of Speaker of the House Representatives is hereby declared to be vacant.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) filed a motion to vacate the chair, setting up a vote to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) within two legislative days. pic.twitter.com/lBOdFJqp6c
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 2, 2023
Ahead of the formal declaration, Gaetz revealed his intentions on several Sunday morning talk shows over the weekend. Gaetz plans to initiate a no-confidence vote against Speaker McCarthy after the passage of a short-term spending bill averted a government shutdown on Saturday. As Valuetainment reported at the time, the crucial stopgap measure came mere hours before the deadline, delaying the debate over the full package until November. The House of Representatives passed the motion with a vote of 335 to 91.
While earlier drafts of the bill contained Republican agenda items like a spending reduction and border security funding, Gaetz and other hardline Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus objected to the proposal based on McCarthy’s expected cooperation with Democrats on further aid to Ukraine. Though the stopgap measure did not include Ukrainian relief funds, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries believes McCarthy will support additional funding in November in what Gaetz is calling “a secret side deal” with Democrats. Facing insufficient support from his own party, McCarthy was forced to accept a plan with no Republican priorities in order to avoid a shutdown.
Matt Gaetz asking the right questions:
"What was the secret side deal that Speaker McCarthy made with Joe Biden on Ukraine?"
pic.twitter.com/xYJrEqmrRx— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) October 2, 2023
Learn the benefits of becoming a Valuetainment Member and subscribe today!
Gaetz is now calling for a no-confidence vote in McCarthy’s speakership, accusing him of breaching an agreement made with Republicans earlier this year. McCarthy’s confirmation as Speaker required a shocking 15 rounds of voting prior to his confirmation, during which he agreed to various concessions regarding spending, budget-balancing, and investigations into the Biden family.
“It is becoming increasingly clear who the speaker of the House already works for, and it’s not the Republican conference,” Gaetz said on the steps of the Capitol on Monday afternoon. “Mr. Speaker, I would ask that these questions be answered soon because there may be other votes coming today or later this week that could be implicated by the answers to these questions. Members of the Republican Party might vote differently on a motion to vacate if they heard what the speaker had to share with us about his secret side deal with Joe Biden on Ukraine. I’ll be listening.”
Responding to Gaetz’s announcement, Speaker McCarthy simply said “Bring it on.”
Bring it on.
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) October 2, 2023
McCarthy had previously told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that this is “nothing new.” “He’s tried to do that from the moment I ran for [the] office,” McCarthy said. Reiterating that he’ll “survive” Gaetz’s ouster attempt, he also accused the Florida congressman of jeopardizing critical legislation based on personal animosity.
"I'll survive," House @SpeakerMcCarthy says after Rep. Matt Gaetz said Sunday that he will introduce a motion to vacate McCarthy from his seat this week.
"Bring it on. Let's get over with it." pic.twitter.com/SnCVIHTN4f
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 1, 2023
Gaetz currently faces his own challenges in Congress, with other Republicans preparing to expel him pending a probe by the House Ethics Committee. Democrats launched the probe in 2021 over allegations that Gaetz “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, misused campaign funds, and accepted bribes.” If the inquiry finds Gaetz guilty, several Republicans have committed to removing him from office. McCarthy claims that this ethics probe, rather than his solution to the budget dilemma, is the reason for Gaetz’s campaign against him.
House rules require only a single member to trigger a no-confidence vote, meaning that the decision on McCarthy’s continued speakership could be held by the end of the week. However, Gaetz has stated that he expects Democrats will bail out McCarthy instead of ousting him.
Add comment