Gaetz says he will bring up motion to oust McCarthy ‘next week’ after speaker cut a deal with Democrats to keep the government open

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz said he will make a motion to impeach Speaker Kevin McCarthy next week, just after the House of Representatives passed a spending bill that narrowly avoided a government shutdown.

“I plan to introduce a motion this week to remove Chairman McCarthy,” Gaetz said on CNN Sunday morning. “I think we need to rip the band-aid off. I think we need to move forward with new leadership that can be reliable.”

The Florida Republican has long said that if McCarthy introduced a “clean” continuing resolution, or CR, in the House of Representatives, he would make the motion.

“I will survive,” McCarthy said of the news on ABC on Sunday morning. ‘Bring it on. Let’s stop it.’

During the frenzied 15-vote vote, McCarthy agreed to a one-member motion to leave, meaning one member of Congress can force a vote in the House of Representatives to remove him as speaker.

To remove him from office, Gaetz would have to collect 218 votes. Most Republicans would likely vote no on the measure, meaning many of those votes would have to come from Democrats.

“I’m done owning Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz said. The speaker met with Gaetz in recent weeks to try to find a path forward on spending that could support the right flank.

“I don’t own him anymore because he’s not telling the truth,” Gaetz said.

He predicted his own motion would fail because some Democrats would vote to keep McCarthy in the speaker’s seat.

“The only way Kevin McCarthy can be Speaker of the House of Representatives at the end of this week is if the Democrats bail him out. Now they probably will.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told CNN on Sunday that she would “absolutely” vote to leave the seat.

And Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., appeared open to supporting the motion to evict on Fox News Sunday morning.

‘I don’t know now. “I really have to think about that,” he said. “There are a lot of trust issues in my room right now.”

McCarthy has accused Gaetz of pursuing a personal vendetta against him as the Florida Republican is under investigation by the Ethics Commission.

“This is personal for Matt,” McCarthy said Sunday. “(Gaetz) is more interested in getting TV interviews than doing anything. He wanted to push us into a shutdown.”

After trying to manipulate Republican votes on a party-line CR that would have cut spending and included border policies but never made it to the Senate, McCarthy finally relented and put a bipartisan CR on the House floor on Saturday Delegates – hours before the closing deadline .

The bill extends government funding for six weeks at the 2023 level that Democrats set during the last Congress, giving both chambers more time to hammer out a longer-term spending plan.

It includes disaster financing, but no new aid for Ukraine.

However, Gaetz accused McCarthy of making a “secret deal” with Democrats to vote on Ukraine financing later.

A statement from Democratic House leadership said they “expect” McCarthy to advance a Ukraine funding bill — though it is not clear whether the speaker has agreed to that.

“When the House returns, we expect Speaker McCarthy will advance a bill to the House for a vote that supports Ukraine, consistent with his pledge to ensure that Vladimir Putin, Russia, and authoritarianism are defeated. We must support the Ukrainian people until victory is achieved.”

Senate leaders said they expect a Ukraine bill to come to the floor “in the coming weeks,” and President Biden also said he expected Congress to approve more funding.

“I fully expect that the speaker will honor his commitment to the Ukrainian people and ensure the passage of the support needed to help Ukraine at this critical time,” Biden said.