House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) will face a challenge to his own leadership from his own party this week when Congress returns after averting a government shutdown.
Motion to Vacate the Speakership
Representative Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.) has announced his intention to present a motion to vacate the speakership, a procedure that would force a vote in the chamber on whether to remove McCarthy.
“I do intend to file a motion to vacate against Speaker McCarthy this week,” Gaetz told CNN’s State of the Union. “I think we need to rip off the bandaid.”
Frustration at Last-Minute Switch
Gaetz and some other Republicans are angry with McCarthy for doing a last-minute switch on Saturday. After several days of trying to push an extension to government funding through his own caucus, McCarthy pivoted to a continuing resolution that garnered enough Democratic support to push it through just before the shutdown deadline.
President Joe Biden signed a bill late on Saturday evening, keeping the government open and giving Congress 45 more days to agree on a longer-term solution.
Backlash Against McCarthy
Gaetz told CNN that McCarthy had turned his back on his own party. “Speaker McCarthy made an agreement with House conservatives in January, and since then, he’s been in brazen, repeated material breach of that agreement,” Gaetz said, referring to agreements McCarthy made with hardliner Republicans earlier this year to secure the speakership.
An Uphill Battle
However, Gaetz’s move would require 218 votes to succeed, a threshold that remains unclear whether he could achieve. Gaetz expressed his belief that Democrats will “bail out” McCarthy. “If they want to keep him, then he belongs to them,” Gaetz told ABC’s This Week.