Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has officially filed a Motion to Vacate the Chair against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
Conservatives threatened to remove McCarthy if he used Democrat votes, as he did Saturday, to advance legislation staving off a government shutdown.
Before introducing the motion, Gaetz accused McCarthy of securing a “secret side deal” with President Joe Biden and the Democrats to keep funding Ukraine.
“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,” Gaetz warned Monday.
“I’ll be listening. Stay tuned.”
BREAKING: Rep. Matt Gaetz has officially filed the Motion to Vacate the Chair against Speaker Kevin McCarthy. pic.twitter.com/eszu0WBRjm
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 2, 2023
Biden had hinted that he may have secured a secret deal with McCarthy.
“I hope my friends on the other side keep their word about support for Ukraine,” Biden said earlier.
“They said they’re going to support Ukraine in a separate vote.
“We cannot, under any circumstance, allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted.”
When grilled on Biden’s comments, however, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to answer, as Slay News reported.
McCarthy has denied allegations of backroom deals, meanwhile.
“There is no side deal, so I don’t know who is bringing that up,” McCarthy said.
“There is no side deal on Ukraine.”
Bring it on.
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) October 2, 2023
The House will now vote on whether to keep McCarthy on as speaker.
The vote is expected to happen in the next 48 hours.
Gaetz said earlier:
“I have enough Republicans where, at this point next week, one of two things will happen: Kevin McCarthy won’t be the speaker of the House, or he’ll be the speaker of the House working at the pleasure of the Democrats.
“And I’m at peace with either result because the American people deserve to know who governs them.”