By Jerald Jimenez
01 Oct 2023, 1:16 PM EDT
Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, of Florida, said this Sunday that he will present a motion to remove the leader of his party in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, of California, after the Lower House approved a provisional measure to finance the government by 45 days, and avoid a government shutdown.
Through an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” program, Gaetz said that the reason he wants to overthrow him is the agreement that McCarthy made with Democrats to approve a provisional resolution that avoids a government shutdown until November.
“This week I intend to file a motion for annulment against President McCarthy,” Gaetz told the aforementioned program. “This deal he made with Democrats to overcome many of the spending barriers we had put in place is the last straw.”
In the statements, Gaetz highlighted the alleged “secret deal” that McCarthy carried out regarding the conflict in Ukraine.
“I found out last night that Kevin McCarthy had a secret deal with the Democrats on Ukraine. So while he was goading Republicans to vote for a no-money continuing resolution for Ukraine…then he turns around and makes a secret deal,” McCarthy added.
In response, McCarthy downplayed Gaetz’s threat, accusing him of thwarting efforts to shore up the border and achieve other conservative victories.
“You know this is personal with Matt. Matt voted against the more conservative ability to secure our border. “He is more interested in getting television interviews than in doing anything,” McCarthy told CBS’ “Face the Nation” program this Sunday, and assured that he “will survive.”
“Forward. Let’s get this over with,” McCarthy added. “Gaetz is trying to work with Democrats, he reached out to Swalwell, AOC and others. But if that’s the way we’re going to govern, I don’t think the United States is going to be successful.”
McCarthy has just introduced a series of bills to avoid a government shutdown that included spending cuts, border security and other elements of the Republican agenda.
The House speaker had to pull out a last-minute stopgap resolution to keep the government open for 45 more days, with disaster relief and no funding for Ukraine, after many radical Republicans rejected the proposals.
The measure passed the House 335 to 91, with only one Democrat and a few Republicans opposed.
Gaetz even vowed to oppose any continuing resolution, or CR, measure to avoid a government shutdown, and demanded instead that Congress pass the traditional 12 appropriations bills in order to keep the government’s lights on.
With information from New York Post