Gaetz tries to push out McCarthy after deal averts shutdown
Follow the latest updates as spending bill is signed by Joe Biden, temporarily preventing shutdown
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Matt Gaetz will offer a motion to vacate the chair in an attempt to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the far-right Florida Republican told CNN on Sunday morning.
This comes after MAGA Republicans were outraged by Mr McCarthy striking a deal with Democrats on Saturday to avert a government shutdown.
“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,” Mr Gaetz told CNN.
Meanwhile, House Republicans seem eager to exact revenge against Mr Gaetz.
News outlets reported on Sunday that Republicans in the lower chamber are looking towards the conclusion of a House Ethics Committee probe into the Republican congressman from Florida in the hopes that the probe’s findings could warrant (or excuse) his expulsion from the chamber.
Donald Trump called for Rep Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) to be put in jail for pulling a fire alarm in the US Capitol complex on Saturday.
The former president bizarrely claimed that Mr Bowman’s behaviour was worse than that of the rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Gaetz could be expelled from House over ethics case amid face-off with McCarthy
Gaetz seeks to oust Speaker McCarthy after shutdown deal with Dems
AOC says she’d consider backing Gaetz push to oust McCarthy as House speaker’s future in question
Ukraine aid left out of US government funding package, raising questions about future support
Tapper pushes back on Gaetz for wanting ‘clicks and likes and Fox hits'
Jake Tapper of CNN pushed back on Matt Gaetz during Sunday’s State of The Union, saying that his way of speaking about Hunter Biden and the Democrats is the “language of somebody who is looking for clicks and likes and Fox hits”.
McCarthy says he’ll survive effort to oust him by Gaetz: ‘You know, this is personal with Matt'
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) appeared on Face The Nation on CBS on Sunday morning, saying that he’ll survive the motion to vacate set to be brought by Matt Gaetz (R-FL) in an effort to oust him.
“Gaetz is more interested in securing TV interviews than doing something. He wanted to push us into a shutdown … only because he wants to take this motion. Bring it on, let’s get over with it,” he told CBS.
Ukraine aid left out of US government funding package, raising questions about future support
Congressional supporters of Ukraine say they won’t give up after a bill to keep the federal government open excluded Joe Biden’s request to provide more security assistance to the war-torn nation.
Still, many lawmakers acknowledge that winning approval for Ukraine assistance in Congress is growing more difficult as the war between Russia and Ukraine grinds on. Republican resistance to the aid has been gaining momentum in the halls of Congress.
Voting in the House this past week pointed to the potential trouble ahead. Nearly half of House Republicans voted to strip $300m from a defence spending bill to train Ukrainian soldiers and purchase weapons. The money later was approved separately, but opponents of Ukraine support celebrated their growing numbers.
Then on Saturday, House speaker Kevin McCarthy omitted additional Ukraine aid from a measure to keep the government running until 17 November. In doing so, he closed the door on a Senate package that would have funnelled $6bn to Ukraine, roughly a third of what has been requested by the White House.
Both the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the stopgap measure, with members of both parties abandoning the increased aid for Ukraine in favour of avoiding a costly government shutdown.
New York Republican calls effort to oust McCarthy ‘delusional'
Rep Mike Lawler (R-NY) pushed back on the effort of Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
“I think what I just heard was a diatribe of delusional thinking,” he told ABC’s This Week.
Gaetz says he thinks ‘Democrats are going to bail out Kevin McCarthy'
Matt Gaetz told ABC that his efforts to bring a vote on ousting the speaker is an “exercise to show the American people who really govern you”.
“I actually think Democrats are going to bail out Kevin McCarthy,” he added.
Watch live: President Biden to make speech after Congress votes to extend government funding likely avoiding shutdown
President Biden will address the nation after the House and Senate came together in a vote to extend funding for the government, avoiding a looming threat of shutdown.
The Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve a stopgap bill to fund government operations for the next 45 days with three and a half hours to go until a midnight deadline at the end of fiscal year, ending a days-long standoff which had threatened to paralyse federal agencies and leave millions of workers without paychecks.
The upper chamber approved the measure, known as a continuing resolution, by a vote of 88 senators In favour and just nine against at 9.04 pm, only hours after the House of Representatives approved an identical bill put forth by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Speaking on the Senate floor just before senators began voting, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the compromise bill would “keep the government open” and represented “good news for the country”.
Donalds notes ‘trust issues’ among House GOP as he declines to say if he’ll vote for McCarthy’s ouster
Rep Byron Donalds (R-FL) appeared on Fox News on Sunday morning on chose not to say if he’ll back the effort to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) by Rep Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
Saying that he thinks the speaker is in “trouble,” he added: “I don’t know right now. I got to really think about that”.
“There are a lot of trust issues in my chamber right now,” he added.
He also blamed Mr McCarthy for why he didn’t end up voting on the funding resolution that passed the House and the Senate on Saturday, averting a shutdown.
Biden pushes for Ukraine aid after funding resolution passed without it
President Joe Biden argued for further Ukraine funding, which was not part of the funding passed on Saturday night to avert a shutdown.
Speaking from the White House on Sunday, he said: “An overwhelming majority of the Congress have steadfastly supported Ukraine to defend itself against the aggression and brutality of the Russian attack on women and children.”
“There's no Ukraine funding this agreement. Despite that, I did not believe we could let millions of Americans go through the pain of a government shutdown. But let's be clear – I hope my friends on the other side, keep their word about support for Ukraine,” he added. “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.”
“I fully expect the speaker to keep his commitment to secure the passage and support needed to help Ukraine as they defend themselves against aggression and brutality,” Mr Biden said. “There's an overwhelming number of Republicans and Democrats in both the House and the Senate who support Ukraine. Let's vote on it.”
Democrat slams Gaetz: ‘Every time we all work together, he loses his mind'
Rep Greg Landsman (D-OH) slammed Matt Gaetz (R-FL) after his announcement that he’s pushing for a vote to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
"Every time we all work together, he loses his mind,” Mr Landsman told Axios. “He doesn't want the center left and center right to work together because he has to be the center of attention. When we do, he creates chaos to grab attention back. Matt Gaetz has no interest in governing. This is all about TV appearances for him. If he says it's for any other reason, he's lying. Just let us govern, which is what most of us came here to do.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments