Matt Gaetz files motion to oust Kevin McCarthy as House speaker as pair spar over social media: ‘Bring it on’

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Monday filed a long-expected motion to vacate against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that if successful will strip the California Republican of his speakership. 

“Pursuant to clause two A1 of Rule nine, I rise to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges of the House,” Gaetz said on the House floor. 

When asked to state the form of his resolution, Gaetz responded, “Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant, resolved that the Office of Speaker of the House of Representatives is hereby declared to be vacant.” 

“Bring it on,” McCarthy tweeted, shortly after Gaetz filed his motion, echoing language he used over the weekend when asked about the possibility of his gavel being taken. 

House leadership has two days to bring Gaetz’s motion up for a vote, which will require a simple majority to pass. 

Gaetz filed the motion just after the lower chamber’s last vote of the day, and the Democratic lawmakers “erupted in laughter as Gaetz left the floor,” according to Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News. 

Gaetz has taunted McCarthy by introducing a motion to vacate, which only necessitates one vote to initiate.

McCarthy agreed to lower the threshold of members needed to introduce the motion back in January, as a concession to conservatives opposed to his speakership.   

The Florida Republican argues that McCarthy has not been serious in supporting spending cuts, and claims that the speaker has been negotiating a secret deal with President Biden regarding aid for Ukraine while supporting a stopgap measure to fund the government that doesn’t include aid to the war-torn country. 

McCarthy has accused Gaetz of harboring personal animosity toward him because of his refusal to intervene in a House Ethics Committee investigation weighing over the Sunshine State lawmaker – a claim Gaetz denies. 

“For some people, policy failures are recast as personal because their own failures are personally embarrassing to them,” Gaetz told reporters on Monday. “This isn’t personal, I can cite to the specific elements of House Rules that have been violated.

“Kevin McCarthy agreed to a rule that we would have 72 hours to read legislation. He blew past that. Kevin McCarthy agreed to a rule that we would not put anything over $100 million on the suspension agenda so that it couldn’t be amended. He blew past that. Kevin McCarthy agreed to the Hastert Rule, which is that you would never use the Democrats to roll a majority of the majority, on the last Ukraine supplemental 101 Republicans voted for it. 117 Republicans voted against it. So, does this sound personal to you?” he continued.

“He’s just trying to subjugate his real and significant breaches of our agreement as some sort of personal dispute but that says more about him than it says about what we’re trying to do,” he added. 

The House last voted on a motion to remove a speaker in 1910, when an attempt was made to oust former Speaker Joe Cannon (R-Ill.)

“So be it. Bring it on. Let’s get it over with and let’s start governing,” McCarthy told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

“I’ll survive,” he added. “You know this is personal with Matt. Matt voted against the most conservative ability to protect our border. He’s more interested in securing TV interviews than doing something.”