In a surprising turn of events, hard-right Republicans are following through on their threat to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from power. On Monday, Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced a motion to oust McCarthy, just two days after McCarthy relied on the votes of House Democrats to pass a bill extending government funding.
Gaetz’s motion, which he announced on the House floor, declares the office of Speaker of the House vacant. Since it is a privileged resolution, a vote on the matter must take place within two legislative days under House rules. McCarthy, however, remains confident that he can survive the ouster attempt and even taunted Gaetz on social media after the resolution was introduced.
Gaetz’s motivation for removing McCarthy stems from his belief in a “secret side deal” between McCarthy and President Biden on Ukraine. Gaetz opposes providing more aid to Ukraine, while McCarthy has expressed support. In a floor speech, Gaetz demanded answers from McCarthy and criticized him for not working in the best interest of the Republican conference.
Despite Gaetz’s efforts, McCarthy’s position as Speaker of the House is not yet in jeopardy. Republicans hold a slim majority, and finding a successor who can satisfy both the right-wing and moderate members of the party may prove challenging. Gaetz would need a simple majority to oust McCarthy, meaning he would likely need Democrats to vote with him. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has already expressed her willingness to cast that vote.
While it’s common for lawmakers to support someone from their own party in voting for the Speaker of the House, it wouldn’t be surprising if more Democrats supported Gaetz’s motion. Gaetz even suggested that some Democrats might prefer to keep McCarthy in place as Speaker of the House over a more right-wing candidate.
However, not all Republican lawmakers are on board with the attempt to remove McCarthy. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a moderate Republican, criticized the move and emphasized the importance of bipartisan cooperation. He would vote to table any effort to oust McCarthy and called for changes to be made if Gaetz continues to bring a motion to vacate.
If the first vote fails, Gaetz has stated that he will continue to try to oust McCarthy. He reminded everyone that it took McCarthy 15 votes to become Speaker of the House, so he believes he’s not being any more dilatory than McCarthy was.
It’s worth noting that motions to vacate the chair are rare occurrences. The last time it happened was in 2015 when then-Rep. Mark Meadows filed a motion against then-House Speaker John Boehner. However, Meadows did not file his motion as a privileged resolution, resulting in no action being taken on it. Nevertheless, Boehner resigned shortly after. The only other motion to vacate happened in 1910, when Speaker Joe Cannon challenged his opponents to introduce a motion. The motion was defeated, but Cannon eventually lost his seat in the 1912 election.
Overall, the move to remove McCarthy as Speaker of the House is causing a stir within the Republican Party and Congress as a whole. It remains to be seen whether Gaetz’s efforts will succeed or if McCarthy will continue to lead as Speaker.
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