Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) says he has "no plans" to discuss the removal of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from his leadership position as negotiations over raising the debt ceiling continue with no immediate end in sight.
Gaetz's comments come after Fox News's Chad Pergram reported that a source close to the negotiations told him McCarthy needs 180 Republican votes as a bare minimum to pass a debt ceiling bill — if he doesn't, a conservative Republican could call for a motion to "vacate the chair" in a vote of no confidence in McCarthy's leadership.
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However, Gaetz said he is not eyeing the idea at this time, saying that up until now, McCarthy has followed through on his leadership.
“I have no plans to seek the removal of Speaker McCarthy barring some dramatic, unexpected turn of events," Gaetz said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. "You don’t remove someone simply because you disagree with them. By that standard, no speaker would last a single day. Speaker McCarthy simply must deliver on the promises he made in January. So far, his record doing so is admirable. So far."
Republicans passed their Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 in late April, a bill regarded as McCarthy's greatest success since taking the speaker's gavel. Since then, House GOP leaders have been locked in discussions with the White House over what provisions they can agree on and which lines each side will not cross.
Several outcomes are at play, with McCarthy's best-case scenario being that he and President Joe Biden come to an agreement as early as Tuesday, with the House voting on the newly negotiated bill early next week. The Senate would not likely vote on a bill until June 1 or 2, the former being the date that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gave as a deadline for Congress to raise the debt ceiling.
Stalling on raising the debt ceiling for a long period of time is projected to create severe financial consequences for the United States, Yellen has repeatedly told both Congress and the White House.
McCarthy's worst-case scenario could be a challenge to his leadership if Republicans believe he either conceded on too many areas or already are unhappy with the state of the original GOP debt ceiling bill. Some House Republicans who have expressed their concerns over the GOP's bill, such as Gaetz and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), are also the same lawmakers who held out against voting for McCarthy for speaker.
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McCarthy and Biden are meeting Monday evening to discuss the debt ceiling, following their conversation on Sunday, which both men said was "productive," but they added they are not close to an agreement.
"He walked through some of the things that he's still looking at he's hearing from his members. I walked through things I'm looking at,” McCarthy said of his call with the president. “What I'm looking at are where our differences are and how could we solve those. And I felt that part was productive. But look, there's no agreement. We're still apart.”