Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) made a motion to vacate House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Monday, following through with weeks of threats to challenge his leadership and setting up a battle for the future of the gavel.
Gaetz made the announcement just hours after he indicated plans to do so on the House floor, accusing McCarthy of making an alleged "back deal" with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution over the weekend to fund the government temporarily. Gaetz demanded McCarthy answer key questions about how the stopgap measure originated, citing a statement from House Democrats that said they "expect" the speaker to put a bill on the floor that would provide additional aid to Ukraine — prompting the Florida Republican to accuse McCarthy of making a "secret" deal without the knowledge of other Republican leaders.
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Gaetz first announced Sunday morning that he plans to file the motion, following through with weeks of threats to oust the speaker if he passed a clean continuing resolution to fund the government temporarily — especially through a deal that garnered the support of House Democrats.
The House voted 335-91 to pass the resolution on Saturday, with more Democrats voting in favor of the legislation than Republicans. More than 90 GOP lawmakers voted against it.
If all Democrats stood against McCarthy and voted for the measure, Gaetz would need at least five Republicans to back the motion. Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) has signaled he would support the move, and Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) said she was “open-minded to the idea.” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) last week indicated he would consider a motion but wouldn’t commit to backing an ouster.
Rep. Wes Hunt (R-TX) said on Monday he hasn’t decided on the motion, but would keep “an open mind.” Rep. Tim Burchett said he was leaning toward voting yes, but said he would "pray on it" until the motion is called for a vote.
However, it remains unclear whether Democrats would willingly bail McCarthy out if he faced an ouster. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) sent an email to House Democrats over the weekend stating that should a motion be filed, party leaders would hold a whip meeting to discuss how they'll approach the situation.
Some Democrats say the onus is on McCarthy to begin that conversation, with several lawmakers saying the speaker has not talked to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) about it.
“There's literally no conversation to be had because speaker McCarthy hasn't come to House Democrats to say anything," said Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA).
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Some key hardline conservative members, such as House Freedom Caucus members Chip Roy (R-TX) and Byron Donalds (R-FL), have said they do not support using the motion to vacate at the moment and want to focus on appropriations bills.
This is a blow to Gaetz’s hopes to oust McCarthy as he needs all the Republican support he can garner in order to do so, especially from those who voted against McCarthy to become speaker to begin with, such as Roy and Donalds.
Once the motion is filed, party leaders will have 48 hours to bring the motion to the floor for a vote. It's expected that McCarthy will counter the move with a motion to table, effectively killing the ouster. It's not clear when a vote would be held on the motion.