WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Matt Gaetz said Sunday he will try to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a fellow Republican, from his leadership position this week after McCarthy relied on Democratic support to pass legislation that avoided a government shutdown.
Gaetz, a longtime McCarthy nemesis, said McCarthy was in “brazen, material breach” of agreements he made with House Republicans in January when he ran for speaker. As a result, Gaetz said he would be filing a “ motion to vacate the chair,” as House rules permit.
No speaker has ever been removed from office through such a move. Procedural votes could be offered to halt the motion or it could trigger a House floor vote on whether McCarthy, R-Calif., should remain speaker.
“I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid,” Gaetz, R-Fla., told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy.”
This is the state of the republican party in the US. Effectively impeaching their own leader in the house because he dared to work to create bipartisan approval on legislation. An effort that was only needed because the same asshats were willing to tank their own party not to mention paychecks and services for thousands of Americans just to win a political showdown.
Fuck Gaetz and all these neorepublicans. Good for McCarthy on this one tiny specific case. This fracture in the republican party is desperately needed and I hope it continues. I like that the only option to pass legislation is to negotiate and meet in the middle - the way things used to be before US politics became nearly 100% polarized.