House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) could lose the gavel on Oct. 3 after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) filed the previous day a motion to oust him from that role.
If it succeeds, it will be the first time a speaker was removed through the motion to vacate. Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) resigned as speaker and from Congress in 2015 before such a motion could be brought up. The last time there was a vote on such a motion was over 100 years ago, which was unsuccessful.
At least five Republicans would need to join all Democrats to oust Mr. McCarthy as speaker. So far, there appears to be that number ahead of the vote, which is scheduled for around 1:30 p.m., when the House is scheduled to vote to consider one of the 12 appropriations bills.
Mr. Gaetz, who has been in Congress since 2017, told CNN on Oct. 1—one day after the United States averted a government shutdown—that the 45-day continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government was the impetus for his announcement.
“Speaker McCarthy made an agreement with House conservatives in January,” he said.
“And since then, he has been in brazen repeated material breach of that agreement. This agreement he made with Democrats to really blow past a lot of the spending guardrails we had set up is a last straw.”
Mr. Gaetz also claimed: “Overnight, I learned that Kevin McCarthy had a secret deal with Democrats on Ukraine.
“So as he was baiting Republicans to vote for a continuing resolution without Ukraine money, saying that we were going to jam the Senate on Ukraine, he then turns around and makes a secret deal.”
Mr. McCarthy denied there was such a side deal with the White House.
As part of an agreement in exchange for being second in line to the president, Mr. McCarthy lowered the threshold for the number of House members to put forth a motion to vacate to one.
‘Failure to Lead’
Including Mr. Gaetz, at least five House Republicans have said they would vote to strip Mr. McCarthy of the gavel.“I said repeatedly in January that we cannot repeat the failures of the past where when Republicans have majority control, that we pass our major spending bills with predominantly Democrat votes,” said Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) on Oct. 2.
“For the Speaker to totally surrender and capitulate on Saturday to pass an unconditional CR with 209 Democrat votes and all votes in the Senate was a bad deal for the American people,” he continued.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said that he is “disappointed” in Mr. McCarthy over his “failure to lead.”
Some Democrats, including Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), whom Mr. McCarthy kicked off the House Select Committee on Intelligence earlier this year, have said they would join with those Republicans to oust Mr. McCarthy from the speaker role.
Mr. McCarthy admitted to reporters on Oct. 3 that “if five Republicans go with Democrats, then I’m out.” When told by a reporter, “That looks likely,” Mr. McCarthy said, “Probably so.”
However, whether enough Democrats will join Republicans to save Mr. McCarthy is to be determined.
On the House floor on Oct. 2, Mr. Gaetz said President Joe Biden has been taking Mr. McCarthy’s “lunch money.” In decrying spending, Mr. Gaetz denounced what he called a “yellow brick road paved by Speaker McCarthy.”
The House on Sept. 29 failed to pass a CR as 21 Republicans, including Mr. Gaetz, joined Democrats to reject a one-month funding bill that would have included border security measures.
The 165-page bill, called the “Continuing Appropriations and Border Security Enhancement Act, 2024,” was released on Sept. 29 and would have reduced funding by almost 8.13 percent for nearly all 12 appropriations—bringing the total spending to $1.59 trillion. It would have run through Oct. 31.
These appropriations are for agriculture, the justice system, defense, energy, homeland security, and other purposes.
The only ones that would have been exempt from the almost 8.13 percent cut would be the Defense Department, Veterans Affairs Department, and disaster relief.
The legislation included border security measures such as resuming border wall construction, which President Biden paused on Jan. 20, 2021—the day he took office—in repudiating former President Donald Trump’s hardline border and immigration policies.
The CR did not include funding for Ukraine amid its war with Russia.
On Sept. 28, 117 Republicans voted against Ukraine aid, while 101 Republicans joined all 210 Democrats to pass a bill that would provide $300 million in assistance to the Eastern European country.
During his appearance on “State of the Union,” Mr. Gaetz announced his intention.
“I do intend to file a motion to vacate against Speaker McCarthy this week,” he said. “I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid. I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy.”
Mr. Gaetz cited Mr. McCarthy’s going back and forth on issues and remarked that he didn’t keep his promises.
“Look, the one thing everybody has in common is that nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy. He lied to Biden. He lied to House conservatives. He had appropriators marking to a different number altogether,” he said.
“And the reason we were backed up against shutdown politics is not a bug of the system, it’s a feature,” Mr. Gaetz said.
‘Nothing New’
On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Mr. McCarthy had a response to Mr. Gaetz: Game on.“I'll survive. You know, this is personal with Matt,” Mr. McCarthy said. “Matt voted against the most conservative ability to protect our border, secure our border.
“He’s more interested in securing TV interviews than doing something. He wanted to push us into a shutdown, even threatening his own district with all the military people there who would not be paid only because he wants to take this motion.
“So be it. Bring it on. Let’s get over with it. Let’s start governing again.”
“Retreat is never a strategy to win anything,” Mr. Gaetz said in his House floor speech.
As to who would succeed Mr. McCarthy as speaker is unknown. Possibilities include House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), who is undergoing cancer treatment; House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.); and House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). However, all of them expressed support for Mr. McCarthy to remain as speaker.
