Gaetz Files Motion To Remove Speaker McCarthy

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has introduced a motion to remove Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the speakership after McCarthy made a “secret side deal with [President] Joe Biden on Ukraine.”

In a speech on the House floor earlier on Monday, Gaetz explained why he planned to file the motion to remove McCarthy.

“The speaker of the House gave away to Joe Biden the money for Ukraine that Joe Biden wanted. It is going to be difficult for my Republican friends to keep calling President Biden feeble while he continues to take Speaker McCarthy’s lunch money in every negotiation,” Gaetz said.

“Ukraine has lost the support of a majority of the majority. The last time there was a freestanding Ukraine vote on this floor — it was last week — 101 Republicans voted for it, 117 Republicans voted against it. According to the Hastert Rule, which Speaker McCarthy agreed to in January, you cannot use Democrats to roll a majority of the majority, certainly on something as consequential as Ukraine,” he continued. “So, for all the crocodile tears about what may happen later this week about a motion to vacate, working with the Democrats is a yellow brick road that has been paved by Speaker McCarthy. Whether it was the debt limit deal, the C.R. or now the secret deal on Ukraine.”

“It is becoming increasingly clear who the speaker of the House already works for, and it’s not the Republican conference,” Gaetz added. “Mr. Speaker, I would ask that these questions be answered soon because there may be other votes coming today or later this week that could be implicated by the answers to these questions. Members of the Republican Party might vote differently on a motion to vacate if they heard what the speaker had to share with us about his secret side deal with Joe Biden on Ukraine. I’ll be listening. Stay tuned.”

On Monday evening, Gaetz stood on the floor of the House and announced his motion — noting that he was “declaring the office of speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant.”

Under House rules, the motion must be brought up for a vote within two legislative days.

This action comes after Gaetz declared in an ABC News interview that “Kevin McCarthy, at one point or another, has lied to all of us” — referring to the House Speaker’s failure to live up to the promises he made when fighting for the speakership, including his vow to pass single-subject spending bills.

McCarthy previously expressed confidence about facing the motion — as it is unclear how many lawmakers Gaetz can expect to vote to remove the House Speaker. McCarthy likely has the support of every establishment Republican, along with several of the supposedly conservative lawmakers. Many of these pro-McCarthy politicians are reportedly planning to try to remove Gaetz from the House over the motion.

Gaetz needs a majority of the House to vote in favor of his motion, which could include Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — who has already expressed her intention to vote to remove McCarthy.