Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy challenged Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to “bring it on” as Gaetz announced his plan to file a motion to vacate him from leadership in the coming week.
Gaetz vowed to file a motion to force a vote on the House floor on whether to vacate McCarthy’s seat after the speaker struck a deal with President Joe Biden to pass a short-term funding bill. The president signed the bill into law just minutes before the government’s funding for the fiscal year 2023 was set to expire, averting a government shutdown.
“This is personal with Matt. Matt voted against the most conservative ability to protect our border, secure our border,” McCarthy said on “Face the Nation” Sunday. “He’s more interested in securing TV interviews than doing something, like 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 and let’s start governing. If he’s upset because he tried to push us into a shutdown, and I made sure government didn’t shut down, then let’s have that fight.”
McCarthy said Gaetz’s attempt to work with Democrats into voting for his ousting is bad for the country. Gaetz has reportedly communicated with Democratic members of Congress in order to secure enough votes to remove McCarthy from his leadership position and negotiate a successor. (RELATED: Rep. Matt Gaetz Announces Plans To Oust Speaker McCarthy)
“Gaetz is trying to work with Democrats. He’s reached out to [California Rep. Eric] Swalwell, [New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] and others. If that’s the way we’re gonna govern, I don’t think America is gonna be successful,” McCarthy added.
Democratic New York Rep. Ocasio-Cortez told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday she would vote in favor of vacating McCarthy’s seat.
“I think Kevin McCarthy is a very weak speaker. He clearly has lost control of his caucus. He has brought the United States and millions of Americans to the brink, waiting until the final hour to keep the government open, and even then only issuing a 45-day extension,” the congresswoman said.
Gaetz was among twenty Republicans to vote against McCarthy for speaker during the House floor vote in January. He and Republican Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert finally permitted McCarthy to secure the speakership after flipping their votes to “present” on the 15th ballot.
Gaetz recently threatened to oust McCarthy if he did not launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, who is being investigated for possibly participating in an influence-peddling scheme to benefit his son, Hunter, as he conducted overseas business dealings. McCarthy launched the impeachment inquiry Sept. 12, but Gaetz still threatened to file a motion to vacate in a statement that same day.
The speaker told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan about House Republicans’ wide range of successes, including passing bills to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and cutting $2 trillion from the debt ceiling. He criticized the Senate for not passing an appropriations bill.
McCarthy said he was “confident” he would have prevented the government from shutting down, but was unsure if it would pass because Democrats did “everything they [could]” to prevent it from passing. Brennan argued ninety Republicans voted against the funding bill, while all Democrats voted in favor.