It would only take a handful of Republicans to turn against embattled Speaker Kevin McCarthy for Rep. Matt Gaetz to succeed.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s job is on the line this week with Rep. Matt Gaetz promising to carry out his threat for a House vote to oust him.
It would only take a handful of Republicans to turn against the embattled speaker for Mr. Gaetz to succeed. But Mr. McCarthy on Sunday expressed confidence in his staying power and accused Mr. Gaetz of pursuing a mysterious personal vendetta against him.
“I’ll survive,” Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Look, this is personal with Matt. … He’s more interested in securing TV interviews than doing something.”
The speaker dared Mr. Gaetz, Florida Republican, to bring up the vote to remove him, what is known in congressional jargon as a motion to vacate the chair.
“So be it. Bring it on. Let’s get over with it and let’s start governing,” Mr. McCarthy said. “If he’s upset because he tried to push us into a shutdown and I made sure the government didn’t shut down, then let’s have that fight.”
Mr. Gaetz said his beef with Mr. McCarthy is about conservative principles, which includes building support for passing the 12 full-year appropriations bills instead of stopgap legislation and massive all-of-government spending packages. Up to now, the House has only passed four of these spending bills.
“This 45-day [stopgap spending bill] does not liberate us from our nation’s financial challenges,” he said. “We remain $33 trillion in debt. We’re facing $2.2 trillion annual deficits,” Mr. Gaetz told reporters at the Capitol.
Mr. Gaetz has threatened for months to use the motion against Mr. McCarthy. He said Sunday that the last straw was Mr. McCarthy relying on Democratic votes to pass a 45-day stopgap spending bill that avoided a government shutdown at midnight Saturday.
It was not a popular move by Mr. McCarthy. Nearly half of House Republicans — 90 — broke ranks to vote against the bill.
“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,” Mr.
