House Republicans are preparing a motion to expel Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., after the legislator doubled down on his call to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., "this week," after McCarthy's decision to look to Democrats for help in passing a stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.
The House GOP will look to boot Gaetz if an ethics committee report determines he is culpable of anything, Fox News reported. After Gaetz stated that he would look to expel McCarthy from his seat, one House Republican told White House correspondent and Fox anchor Jacqui Heinrich, "No one can stand him at this point. A smart guy without morals."
House GOP members are seeking to quickly expel Gaetz if the ethics report comes back with findings of guilt.
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) October 1, 2023
Following threats to vacate McCarthy, one tells me “No one can stand him at this point. A smart guy without morals.”
A frequent critic of McCarthy, Gaetz said during a Sunday CNN appearance that it was time to remove McCarthy. "I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid," he argued.
"I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy," the far-right lawmakers added. "Look, the one thing everybody has in common is that nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy. He lied to Biden. He lied to House conservatives. Kevin McCarthy's goal was to make multiple contradictory promises to delay everything back up against shutdown politics and at the end of the day, blow past the spending guardrails he had agreed."
.@RepMattGaetz: "I do intend to file a motion to vacate against Speaker McCarthy this week. I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid. I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy."
— The Hill (@thehill) October 1, 2023
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Sunday said he will push to unseat House… pic.twitter.com/DVDlADswDH
McCarthy during an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation" did not seem concerned that there was enough support to remove him from the speaker job.
"I'll survive," McCarthy said. "You know this is personal with Matt," who he claimed was "more interested in securing TV interviews than doing something."
"So be it, bring it on," the speaker added. "Let's get over with it and let's start governing. If he's upset because he tried to push us into a shutdown and I made sure the government didn't shut down, then let's have that fight."
"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.
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 1, 2023
"Bring it on. Let's get over with it." pic.twitter.com/SnCVIHTN4f
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said that she would be willing to vote to remove McCarthy.
"It's not up to Democrats to save Republicans. From themselves, especially," she said during an appearance on "State of the Union" over the weekend.
When asked if she would vote to expel McCarthy, she answered with a resounding, "absolutely," adding that she feels McCarthy is a "very weak speaker."
"He clearly has lost control of his caucus," she continued.
AOC on CNN says she'd "absolutely" vote to oust McCarthy as speaker pic.twitter.com/Cl2ECx99jt
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 1, 2023
