(The Guardian) Republican insurgent Gaetz demands answers from McCarthy, threatens removal vote
A day after announcing that he will propose removing Kevin McCarthy from his post as speaker of the House, Matt Gaetz, a leader of the far-right block of Republican insurgents in the chamber, demanded answers from the speaker but held off on formally introducing the motion.
In a speech on the House floor, Gaetz accused McCarthy of making a secret side deal on Ukraine aid with Joe Biden, the Democratic president who far-right Republicans have warned the speaker against working with.
“Mr. Speaker, just tell us … what was in the secret Ukraine side deal, what commitments were made to president Biden to continue the spending of president Biden, in exchange for doing things for president Biden,” Gaetz said. “It is becoming increasingly clear who the speaker of the House already works for, and it’s not the Republican conference.”
While Gaetz had announced yesterday he would make a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair, he did not formally do so in his speech today, rather forecasting that he would do so in the coming days, if McCarthy did not answer his questions: 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.
Asked by reporters why he did not formally introduce his motion to vacate Kevin McCarthy from the speaker of the House’s chair, Matt Gaetz said it was because not enough lawmakers were in town yet:
A day after announcing that he will propose removing Kevin McCarthy from his post as speaker of the House, Matt Gaetz, a leader of the far-right block of Republican insurgents in the chamber, demanded answers from the speaker but held off on formally introducing the motion.
In a speech on the House floor, Gaetz accused McCarthy of making a secret side deal on Ukraine aid with Joe Biden, the Democratic president who far-right Republicans have warned the speaker against working with.
“Mr. Speaker, just tell us … what was in the secret Ukraine side deal, what commitments were made to president Biden to continue the spending of president Biden, in exchange for doing things for president Biden,” Gaetz said. “It is becoming increasingly clear who the speaker of the House already works for, and it’s not the Republican conference.”
While Gaetz had announced yesterday he would make a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair, he did not formally do so in his speech today, rather forecasting that he would do so in the coming days, if McCarthy did not answer his questions: 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.
Asked by reporters why he did not formally introduce his motion to vacate Kevin McCarthy from the speaker of the House’s chair, Matt Gaetz said it was because not enough lawmakers were in town yet:
