Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said Sunday that he intends to file a motion to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week after Congress voted to averted a shutdown hours before the deadline.
“I do intend to file a motion to vacate against Speaker McCarthy this week,” Gaetz said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “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 also confirmed that he’ll soon file a motion to vacate the speakership in an appearance on ABC News’ “This Week,” after the Senate and House on Saturday night voted to pass a short-term bill to keep the government funded through Nov. 17.
The legislation authorizes additional disaster relief money and buys Congress more time to reach a funding agreement for the full year. However, it does not include aid to Ukraine. McCarthy removed the provision from the bipartisan Senate bill, saying it should be considered separately at a later date.
Before Congress passed the short-term bill on Saturday, McCarthy announced he would nix Republican demands for spending cuts and policy provisions on immigration in order to hold a quick House vote on a “clean” stopgap bill. His announcement came a day after a group of conservative rebels, led by Gaetz, blocked House Republicans’ short-term funding bill to keep the government open.
Gaetz had threatened to move to oust McCarthy if he worked with Democrats to fund the government with a clean continuing resolution.
“Speaker McCarthy made an agreement House conservatives in January, and since then he has been in brazen, repeated, material breach of that agreement. This agreement that he made with Democrats, to really blow past a lot the spending guardrails we’d set up, is really the last straw,” Gaetz said on “State of the Union.”
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.