Gaetz announces motion to vacate, setting up battle over McCarthy’s leadership
October 02, 2023 07:18 PM
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) made a motion to vacate House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Monday, following through with weeks of threats to challenge his leadership and setting up a battle for the future of the gavel.
Gaetz made the announcement just hours after he indicated plans to do so on the House floor, accusing McCarthy of making an alleged “back deal” with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution over the weekend to fund the government temporarily. Gaetz demanded McCarthy answer key questions about how the stopgap measure originated, citing a statement from House Democrats that said they “expect” the speaker to put a bill on the floor that would provide additional aid to Ukraine — prompting the Florida Republican to accuse McCarthy of making a “secret” deal without the knowledge of other Republican leaders.
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“Kevin McCarthy is kind of pitiful,” Gaetz told reporters after filing the motion. “He’s the product of a corrupt system that rewards people who collect large sums of special interest money and then redistribute that money in exchange for political loyalty and political favors. I’ve prayed and I’ve hoped that someone emerges out of this historic process who has greater vision and greater clarity and greater trust in the conference, and more integrity.”
He said he has fielded calls from members “sua sponte” who expressed their interest in being the next speaker of the House if McCarthy is ousted as a result of his motion, though he would not name who those individuals were.
Gaetz first announced Sunday morning that he plans to file the motion, following through with weeks of threats to oust the speaker if he passed a clean continuing resolution to fund the government temporarily — especially through a deal that garnered the support of House Democrats.
The House voted 335-91 to pass the resolution on Saturday, with more Democrats voting in favor of the legislation than Republicans. More than 90 GOP lawmakers voted against it.
If all Democrats stood against McCarthy and voted for the measure, Gaetz would need at least five Republicans to back the motion. Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) has signaled he would support the move, and Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) said she was “open-minded to the idea.” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) last week indicated he would consider a motion but wouldn’t commit to backing an ouster.
Rep. Wes Hunt (R-TX) said on Monday he hasn’t decided on the motion, but would keep “an open mind.” Rep. Tim Burchett said he was leaning toward voting yes, but said he would “pray on it” until the motion is called for a vote.
However, it remains unclear whether Democrats would willingly bail McCarthy out if he faced an ouster. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) sent an email to House Democrats over the weekend stating that should a motion be filed, party leaders would hold a whip meeting to discuss how they’ll approach the situation.
Some Democrats say the onus is on McCarthy to begin that conversation, with several lawmakers saying the speaker has not talked to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) about it.
“There’s literally no conversation to be had because speaker McCarthy hasn’t come to House Democrats to say anything,” said Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA).
Some key hardline conservative members, such as House Freedom Caucus members Chip Roy (R-TX) and Byron Donalds (R-FL), have said they do not support using the motion to vacate at the moment and want to focus on appropriations bills.
This is a blow to Gaetz’s hopes to oust McCarthy as he needs all the Republican support he can garner in order to do so, especially from those who voted against McCarthy to become speaker to begin with, such as Roy and Donalds.
Once the motion is filed, party leaders will have 48 hours to bring the motion to the floor for a vote. It’s expected that McCarthy will counter the move with a motion to table, effectively killing the ouster. It’s not clear when a vote would be held on the motion.
If the motion is successful, there would have to be another vote on who would become the next speaker. When asked by reporters who he would want to see in that position, Gaetz threw out House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s (R-LA) name but also said he would vote for virtually anybody other than McCarthy.
“Our number two is Steve Scalise. I think very highly of Steve Scalise. I would vote for Steve Scalise,” Gaetz said. “I would probably vote for at least 100 Republicans in our caucus and maybe 100 other Americans out there who wouldn’t necessarily need to be a member of the body to be considered for the speakership. But I am not going to pass over Steve Scalise just because he has blood cancer and is going through treatment.”
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Scalise has emphasized that he fully supports McCarthy and believes the motion to vacate is a distraction.
“We have a lot of work to do. Now is not the time for distractions,” Scalise said in a post on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “I’m committed to continuing to work with [McCarthy] and our entire leadership team on reducing spending, securing our border, and fighting for hardworking Americans.”