GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida did not move forward on Monday with his effort to oust Kevin McCarthy from his speakership, saying the California Republican owes him answers and depending on his response there “may be other votes coming – today or this week.”
Gaetz, a frequent critic of McCarthy, has been pushing to oust the speaker by using the congressional mechanism to vacate the chair, which allows any one member the ability to call for a new speaker election, though GOP leadership has a few options to stop or stall such an effort.
Conservatives have threatened to oust McCarthy over relying on Democratic votes, as he did Saturday to advance legislation staving off a government shutdown. Gaetz also cited the possibility of the House holding votes on sending aid to Ukraine as another reason to oust McCarthy.
“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,” he said in closing. “Stay tuned.”
In Sunday remarks responding to the thwarted government shutdown, President Joe Biden called on McCarthy and other Republican leaders to follow through on a commitment to hold a standalone vote on funding for Ukraine as it attempts to fight off Russia’s invasion.
“I hope my friends on the other side keep their word about support for Ukraine. They said they’re going to support Ukraine in a separate vote,” Biden said. “We cannot, under any circumstance, allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted.”
On Monday, McCarthy refused to rule out cutting a deal with Democrats in order to survive Gaetz’s push.
“I think this is about the institution. I think it’s too important,” he told CNN. The speaker added that he has not yet spoken with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries about how Democrats would handle the motion to vacate.
Following his floor remarks, Gaetz said on the steps of the Capitol that “I’m going to be doing it this week” when asked by reporters about when he would bring a motion to vacate to the floor.
Gaetz told CNN he spoke to former President Donald Trump about ousting McCarthy but wouldn’t disclose any details about the conversation, saying he would “keep that between the two of us.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
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