McCarthy in trouble as Gaetz promises vengeance for speaker’s partnership with Democrats

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) succeeded in passing a continuing resolution on Saturday, overcoming a significant hurdle after weeks of infighting among the Republican Party. Now, he could face another battle from his own party: maintaining his speakership.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that he plans to offer a motion to vacate the speakership this week to remove McCarthy. Rank-and-file Republicans have floated the idea of vacating the speakership if McCarthy went against their demands or collaborated with House Democrats to pass a clean continuing resolution — which he did.

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“I do intend to file a motion to vacate against Speaker McCarthy this week. I think we need to rip off the band-aid. I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy,” Gaetz said Sunday.

“I have a requisite number of House Republicans, a sufficient number to ensure that we don’t own McCarthy anymore,” Gaetz continued. “By week’s end, he will either not be speaker or will he will be speaker serving at the pleasure of House Democrats.

The Florida representative, along with 90 other House Republicans, voted against the continuing resolution, but the bill passed overwhelmingly 335-91. After the vote, Gaetz accused McCarthy of making a “Ukraine deal with Democrats” after passing the 45-day continuing resolution, which does not include funding for Ukraine.

“Wow. [McCarthy] made a side Ukraine deal with Democrats and didn’t tell House Republicans until after his Continuing Resolution passed. More deceit,” Gaetz wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Many people watched Gaetz attempting to catch the attention of Rep. Steve Womach (R-AR), who controlled the floor, after McCarthy ally Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK) motioned to adjourn the House. Some believed Gaetz may have been trying to bring forward a motion to vacate, but Gaetz told Politico that he planned on requesting a vote on a motion to adjourn, which would have kept the House in session through the weekend.

The irony is evident, however: If Gaetz wants to successfully bring a motion to vacate against McCarthy for working with House Democrats (among other things), then the Florida congressman is going to need the support of House Democrats to oust him.

The motion to vacate would require a majority vote of 218 votes. With Republicans only holding a slight majority in the House and several GOP members already indicating they would back McCarthy, Gaetz would need several Democrats on his side to get the vote off the ground.

Gaetz privately reached out to some House Democrats this week to help him oust McCarthy, including Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), according to Politico. However, Gaetz told the outlet that it was “false” that he was reaching out to Democrats about ousting McCarthy, instead saying the conversations were focused on the stopgap spending bill.

The Florida representative said on Sunday that he will make “no deal with Democrats and concede no terms to them.”

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“I actually think Democrats should vote against speaker McCarthy for free,” Gaetz said Sunday. “I don’t think I should have to deal them … I don’t think that any Republicans that share my view on Speaker McCarthy would cut deals with Democrats.”

“I’m done owning Kevin McCarthy, right? We made a deal at the end of June — or in January to allow him to assume the speakership, and I’m not owning him anymore,” Gaetz continued. “Because he doesn’t tell the truth. And so if Democrats want to own Kevin McCarthy by bailing him out, I can’t stop them, but then he’ll be their speaker, not mine.”