Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) took to the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday to blast Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for not upholding his end of a hard-won agreement with conservatives that gave him the speakership.
“The path forward for the House of Representatives is to either bring you into immediate total compliance or remove you, pursuant to a motion to vacate the chair,” Gaetz warned McCarthy, before adding, “I know that Washington isn’t a town where people are known for keeping their word. Speaker McCarthy, I’m here to hold you to yours.”
“The path forward for the House of Representatives is to either bring you into immediate, total compliance or remove you.”
– Matt Gaetz, September 2023.
On this very floor in January, the whole world witnessed a historic contest for House Speaker.
I rise today to serve notice. Mr. Speaker, you are out of compliance with the agreement that allowed you to assume this role. The path forward for the House of Representatives is to… pic.twitter.com/1IFsrmT8KK
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) September 12, 2023
Amongst Gaetz’s concerns has been McCarthy’s unenthusiastic push for the impeachment of President Joe Biden, despite several House committees presenting mounting evidence that Biden and his family enriched themselves turning his tenure as Vice-President from 2009 to 2017. Additionally, Gaetz believes McCarthy has abandoned conservative efforts to cut reckless spending. In just over two weeks, funding for the federal government will run out – starving the deep state of money – unless Congress passes a continuing resolution to keep the government open while they continue to hammer out twelve major appropriations bills that are expected to be voted on later this Fall.
Earlier this year, Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker of the House by the new Republican majority after a grueling fifteen rounds of voting. The California Republican faced fierce resistance from conservative members of the Republican House Conference who consider McCarthy to be a political moderate who caves too easily to House Democrats and President Joe Biden. However, after cutting a deal with conservative members, including naming several to the powerful House Rules Committee and lowering the threshold to hold a vote to remove the Speaker to a motion by a single House member, McCarthy was finally able secure the votes to attain the Speakership.