Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is set to face his toughest leadership challenge yet as the House returns from its six-week recess, forcing the GOP leader to grapple with growing tensions amid his own party as well as a looming government shutdown hovering over his shoulders.
Congress only has 19 days to pass its budget and avert a government shutdown, which is shaping up to be no easy task as McCarthy attempts to appease the demands from all corners of his caucus. Meanwhile, the GOP leader must also deal with a push from hard-line conservatives who seek to strip McCarthy of the speakership altogether — a dynamic that is sure to play into spending negotiations throughout the month.
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Although it’s unclear how much support there might be to remove McCarthy from his top position, some rank-and-file Republicans have already suggested they would be willing to lead the charge. For example, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) raised eyebrows as he implied a motion to vacate unless McCarthy agreed to open an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden.
“Hi, Eric. If I make a motion to remove Kevin, how [many] democrat votes can I count on? Asking for a friend,” Gaetz said in response to a post on X (the social media outlet previously known as Twitter) from Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who previously criticized the Florida Republican for making “empty threats” to remove McCarthy from the No. 1 position.
Gaetz then went further, pressing Swalwell to act as a whip on his behalf among his Democratic counterparts.
“Are all Democrats so willing, [Swalwell]? Will my NorCal twitter troll have the courage and efficacy to become my dem whip?? If I’ll work with [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] to ban congressional stock trading I’ll absolutely work with [Swalwell] to rid the House of ineffective leadership,” Gaetz said. “How many votes can you deliver against a Motion to Table a Motion to Vacate, eric? Asking for (many) friends!”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who has been a vocal supporter of more spending cuts and stronger border security and has pressured McCarthy not to cave and to cut spending, dodged questions about Gaetz’s tweet on Monday. But when asked if he had confidence in the speaker, he did offer some advice to McCarthy: Work with conservatives.
“When Kevin works with us to sit down to achieve conservative ends and get 218 Republican votes, we've been successful. That's my advice to him in September,” Roy said.
It only takes a single member to call a motion to vacate, and with only a four-vote majority in the House, it would only take a handful of Republicans to join Democrats to vote for his removal. However, it’s not clear whether Swalwell, or any Democrat for that matter, would assist Gaetz in those efforts. A spokesperson for Swalwell did not respond to a request for comment by the Washington Examiner.
McCarthy said Monday that he is "not at all" worried about Gaetz's threats and that the Florida Republican should "go ahead and do it."
"Matt's Matt," he told reporters.
A Biden impeachment inquiry is just one of several demands being made by House Republicans as they leverage their support for government funding, setting up a showdown with GOP leadership as the budget deadline nears.
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If Congress can’t pass all 12 of its bills before the end of the month, lawmakers will typically agree to a continuing resolution that allows the government to operate at the same spending levels until a new agreement is made. However, some hard-line conservatives are already ruling that process out, noting they aren’t afraid of enforcing a government shutdown to get the budget passed.
The House is expected to vote on the appropriations bill for the Department of Defense later this week, marking only the second piece of spending legislation making its way to the floor in the lower chamber. Lawmakers are then expected to turn their efforts to passing the State-Foreign Ops appropriation bill and the Homeland Security appropriations bill, a source familiar told the Washington Examiner last week.