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Florida's Gaetz to 'Fall Flat on His Face' in Bid to Oust McCarthy From House Speakership

© AFP 2023 / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSUS Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, speaks to the press on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 30, 2023.
US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, speaks to the press on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 30, 2023. - Sputnik International, 1920, 03.10.2023
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The short-term government spending bill passed by Congress just in the nick of time to dodge a shutdown includes disaster relief funds, but does not include new aid for Ukraine. The stage is now set for further wrangling, with US Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) filing a motion Monday to call for the removal of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his post.
Kevin McCarthy is not likely to be ousted from his position as House speaker, Steve Abramowicz, owner and CEO of Mill Creek View, told Sputnik.
They don't have the votes,” he insisted.

“If you do the whipping, which means counting the heads... I think even if every Democrat voted against him, I think you still have enough Republicans to keep him right where he is. And the majority of them think Kevin McCarthy will do whatever he has to do to keep the party happy. That's why he got the job [in the] first place," Steve Abramowicz said.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives may have succeeded in passing a last-minute deal to extend government funding for 45 days and avert a shutdown, but the drama on Capitol Hill is far from over. What the convoluted process of hammering out a stop-gap budget bill has highlighted clearly, however, is the growing inner rift within the US political establishment over budget spending and, specifically, Ukraine aid.
On October 2, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) began the process for holding a vote to remove Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, thus threatening to throw the lower chamber of Congress into further chaos.

"I have enough Republicans where at this point next week one of two things will happen: Kevin McCarthy won't be the speaker of the House or he'll be the speaker of the House working at the pleasure of the Democrats… I'm at peace with either result, because the American people deserve to know who governs them," Gaetz stated.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., joined by Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., holds a news conference just after the House approved a 45-day funding bill to keep federal agencies open, but the measure must first go to the Senate, at the Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. - Sputnik International, 1920, 02.10.2023
Americas
Florida's Gaetz Files Motion to Remove McCarthy From House Speakership
Matt Gaetz is “going to try to bring a motion to vacate,” but “he's going to fall flat on his face,” political commentator Angie Wong told Sputnik.
Meanwhile, you and I, we may not have a government budget because of him. I don't support this," she added. According to Wong, people “don’t want to be part of this fight” because “the only person going down in all of this is Matt Gaetz.”

“It's going to look really, really badly for him at the end of this week if he doesn't stop this nonsense,” Angie Wong added.

The Republican from Florida has been threatening McCarthy with a "vote to vacate" his position since the agreement was struck to avert a shutdown, accusing the speaker of making a "secret side deal on Ukraine" with the Democrats.
Gaetz, along with dozens of other House GOP members, has voiced opposition to further funding of the Kiev regime by Washington. That is how additional aid to Ukraine was ditched from the stop-gap funding bill. However, on Sunday, Joe Biden appeared to suggest in a comment to reporters that he had made a deal with McCarthy to pass a temporary government budget bill. Biden said he expected McCarthy to “keep his commitment to secure passage and support needed” to fund Ukraine.
This prompted Gaetz to question angrily on the House floor on Monday:
“What was the secret side deal on Ukraine?”
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy denied the existence of a secret deal on Ukraine aid between him and US President Joe Biden.
"No, that's not true at all. There is no side deal with President Biden," McCarthy said in an interview late on Monday, adding that he had not spoken with the president for months.
US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, speaks to the press on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 30, 2023.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 03.10.2023
World
McCarthy Denies Existence of 'Secret Deal' With Biden on Ukraine Aid
Still, Rep. Matt Gaetz earlier went on record as saying it was time to “rip off the Band-Aid,” and “move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy.” Gaetz has accused McCarthy in a plethora of interviews of being in “brazen, material breach” of agreements struck with House Republicans back in January, when he ran for speaker. It’s worth recalling that at the time, it took 15 rounds of voting to gain the support McCarthy required to secure the post.
The House will now have 48 hours to consider the measure, with a simple majority needed to oust McCarthy. Republicans hold a slim nine-seat majority in the House. Typically, when House speakers are appointed, the minority party votes in unison against the nomination. If that holds for votes to vacate, Gaetz would only need a handful of Republicans to join him in removing McCarthy. One Democrat -- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez -- was cited as saying she would vote to remove McCarthy.
Several GOP representatives, like Rep. Rick Allen, R-Georgia, urged Gaetz against filing the motion against McCarthy, warning that such chaos among Republicans was what the Democrats would rejoice in.
"It's our job to do the American people's work. If we disrupt the leadership in our conference, you're gonna destroy everything we've worked for for the last almost a year," Allen said.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) also slammed Gaetz’s “diatribe of delusional thinking.”
McCarthy’s response to Gaetz’s threat was, “So be it. Bring it on. Let’s get over with it and let’s start governing.”
© Photo : SpeakerMcCarthy/XScreengrab of X post by US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Screengrab of X post by US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. - Sputnik International, 1920, 03.10.2023
Screengrab of X post by US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“I don't think the 20 congressmen who made it hard for McCarthy to get the gig [speakership] have more members who like them and listen to them, to be able to toss McCarthy out. So all it really does… is it slows them down, it hamstrings them... gives them headaches… gives them heartburn. But he's still the chosen guy, and he is going to do what the party tells him to do because that's the job,” Steve Abramowicz told Sputnik.

Political commentator Angie Wong speculated that Gaetz was "going to look like a fool because he's a bully that cannot win."
"Ultimately, Kevin McCarthy is going to get up there and say, ‘okay, I'm going to bring a motion to change the rules. So no longer just one person. Because look what happens when you give one person that power. He abuses it,’” said Wong.
Wong was making reference to the rules of the House that allow for any single lawmaker, whether Democrat or Republican, to make a “motion to vacate the chair.”
Angie Wong reiterated that Matt Gaetz was “walking a thin line" on the issue of McCarthy.

“The reality is this and I think this is why 126 Republicans voted yes for the continuing resolution over the weekend is because Kevin McCarthy, to this day, remains to be the largest GOP fundraiser… he makes or breaks your career in Congress... Now, Matt Gaetz… has nowhere to go after this… I think it was about two weeks ago that he said he was going to run for Florida governor when he's done with his term because he cannot stand being in the House with Kevin McCarthy... So I will tell you, here in Florida, we don't want him to be governor. So, what does he have left?” Wong queried.

According to the pundit, “there is a real opportunity if he [Gaetz] doesn't stop his shenanigans, that Kevin McCarthy and crew will find a way of ousting him. They've already said we have the House ethics investigation into you."
Media reports have been suggesting some House Republicans are exploring the possibility of expelling Gaetz, depending on the findings of the Ethics Committee, which is investigating allegations of sexual misconduct, bribery, and campaign finance violations, among other alleged offenses. Gaetz has denied he committed any crimes.
"They haven't released a single droplet of content, but we know what's in there. And when they do release it, he's done for. So this is like do or die for him,” Angie Wong underscored.
The Pentagon is seen from the air in Washington, DC, on March 2, 2022 - Sputnik International, 1920, 01.10.2023
Americas
Pentagon Has ‘Exhausted Almost All Available Security Aid for Ukraine’
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