Members of the House have voted out Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker. This is the first time in American history a Speaker has been voted out.
The motion to vacate was led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and other Republicans unhappy with McCarthy after he caved to Democrats’ demands to pass a recent spending bill. Gaetz accused McCarthy of having made a “secret side deal” with House Democrats over Ukraine relief funds during last week’s budget negotiations.
House Democrats sided with Republicans to join Gaetz’s motion.
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
(RELATED: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Faces Republican Ouster After Budget Vote)
Gaetz delivered an impassioned monologue to the press about the importance of balancing the federal budget and the de-dollarization movement led by BRICS picking up speed around the world. “If this country’s going down, and if we’re losing the dollar, I’m going down fighting,” he said.
Matt Gaetz on fire:
"If this country's going down, and if we're losing the dollar, I'm going down fighting. And I don't care if that means fighting Republicans, Democrats, the Uniparty, the leadership, the PACs, the lobbyists. I've had it." pic.twitter.com/Y4HqH2OLQ3
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) October 3, 2023
Meanwhile, 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.
Gaetz told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he did not intend to make a deal with the Democrats and said they should vote against McCarthy “for free.” Gaetz also said he thought Democrats would come to the rescue of McCarthy.
“When you host this show next week, if Kevin McCarthy is still the Speaker of the House, he’ll be serving at the pleasure of the Democrats, he’ll be working for the Democrats. The only way Kevin McCarthy is Speaker of the House at the end of this coming week is if Democrats bail him out. Now they probably will. I actually think when you believe in nothing as Kevin McCarthy does, then everything’s negotiable, and I think he’ll have a deal with the Democrats.”
But it looks like he was wrong.
JUST IN: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tells @jaketapper that he will move to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week. @CNNSotu #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/5gpuum4eGy
— CNN (@CNN) October 1, 2023
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