McCarthy to bring motion to oust him as speaker to the floor Tuesday
October 03, 2023 10:06 AM
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) will bring up the motion to vacate on the floor Tuesday during the first vote series, putting the vote on whether he will remain speaker or not up to a test for the first time.
McCarthy told his conference in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday that he would bring up Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) motion to vacate to remove him as speaker at 1:30 p.m. It is expected a lawmaker will make a motion to table Gaetz’s motion, which, if successful, would prevent the actual motion to vacate from being voted on.
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Gaetz filed his motion to vacate Monday night, 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.
“At this point next week, one of two things will happen: Kevin McCarthy won’t be the speaker of the House or he’ll be the speaker of the House working at the pleasure of the Democrats. And I’m at peace with either result because the American people deserve to know who governs them,” Gaetz said after filing the motion.
As of now, enough Republicans have said they would support the measure that if all Democrats vote to oust McCarthy, then it will be successful, but it is unclear if Democrats will support the measure or support McCarthy.
McCarthy called House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Monday night, but Jeffries declined to discuss a “private call.”
Some Democrats expressed skepticism about supporting McCarthy, saying there is a lack of trust there.
“And I think the other problem is for all of us is that even if Kevin McCarthy were to say he would do something, there’s not a whole lot of trust that he’ll live up to whatever he committed to,” Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) said. “Given his history, it’s really difficult to imagine taking what Kevin McCarthy says at face value.”
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McCarthy still does have the support of a majority of Republicans because only seven GOP members have said they support or are considering supporting the motion to oust him.
“I’m confident that we have enough support and strong support within our Republican conference. And I do think that he may garner some support from those on the other side of the aisle because he has shown that he can govern, and I think that’s what we’re here to do,” Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN) said.