House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) flashed confidence in his ability to prevail over an effort to remove him as speaker following the passage of a short-term spending bill that averted a government shutdown.
During a CBS News interview on Sunday, “Face the Nation” anchor Margaret Brennan asked McCarthy to respond to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) announcing that he intends to file a “motion to vacate” against McCarthy this coming week.
“That’s nothing new. He’s tried to do that from the moment I ran for [the] office,” McCarthy said. “Yes, I’ll survive,” he added when pressed to respond to the latest threat.
"I'll survive," House @SpeakerMcCarthy says after Rep. Matt Gaetz said Sunday that he will introduce a motion to vacate McCarthy from his seat this week.
"Bring it on. Let's get over with it." pic.twitter.com/SnCVIHTN4f
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 1, 2023
Gaetz, who appeared on multiple Sunday morning TV shows, announced that McCarthy would face a motion to vacate this coming week after the House voted 335-91 to pass a short-term spending bill with the support of Democrats.
The Florida Republican accused McCarthy of breaching an “agreement” with conservatives that allowed McCarthy to become speaker after 15 rounds of voting in January and dealing with Democrats to “really blow past spending guardrails we’d set up.”
I will file a motion to vacate against @SpeakerMcCarthy this week. pic.twitter.com/kFA7X7P2OG
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) October 1, 2023
The Democrat-led Senate approved the continuing resolution, after which President Joe Biden signed it ahead of the midnight deadline before there would have been a government shutdown. The stop-gap measure gives lawmakers more time to reach an agreement on spending the various facets of the federal government in the new fiscal year.
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With leaders of the House Democrats saying they “expect” McCarthy to queue up a Ukraine aid vote when the House returns, Gaetz also faulted the speaker over what he called a “side deal” with the other party. But, in the end, Gaetz admitted he believes Democrats will “bail out” McCarthy.
McCarthy said “this is personal” for Gaetz and claimed Gaetz was “more interested” in securing TV interviews than securing the U.S.-Mexico border and preventing a government shutdown.
Under the House rules package approved for this session of Congress, only a single member is needed to trigger the process that could lead to a no-confidence vote in the speaker. For such a vote to succeed, a simple majority is required, meaning Democrats could join with a few disaffected Republicans to secure McCarthy’s ouster.
“Bring it on,” McCarthy said of a potential no-confidence vote. “Let’s get over with it, and let’s start governing.”