McCarthy under pressure
Radical Republican wants to drive party colleagues out of office
October 1, 2023, 5:01 p.m
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Only with the help of the Democrats did the Speaker of the House of Representatives, McCarthy, avert a shutdown of the US government at the last second. The hardliners in his party don’t like that at all: one of them is now announcing that he wants to remove the Republican from his office.
After averting a shutdown in US government business, a radical Republican wants to drive his party colleague Kevin McCarthy out of office. Matt Gaetz announced on US television that he wanted to introduce a motion this week to remove the chairman of the US House of Representatives from his post.
“McCarthy made an agreement with House conservatives in January that he has flagrantly violated ever since,” Gaetz said. He also learned that McCarthy had made a “secret deal with the Democrats about Ukraine.” The background to the dispute is that McCarthy brought an interim budget to the vote on Saturday, which the ultra-radicals in his party rejected.
The budget passed the US Congress – this meant that a so-called shutdown could be prevented at the last moment. The interim budget did not contain any aid for Ukraine – this is rejected by the radicals in the Republican faction. But he also did not foresee any spending cuts – these were what the radicals had demanded. The budget could only be passed with the support of the Democrats.
The Republicans only have a very narrow majority in the House of Representatives. The result is that a smaller circle of extreme MPs can push Chairman McCarthy ahead of them. He only came into office in January after numerous concessions to the radicals in the 15th ballot. Back then, Matt Gaetz was already one of the rebels who put McCarthy under pressure. It’s no surprise that he now wants to drive McCarthy out of office. He had hinted at this again and again.
If Gaetz actually submits such a proposal, it does not automatically mean that McCarthy will lose his job. A vote can be prevented with motions. But if there is actually a vote, McCarthy will likely have to rely on Democratic support to stay in office.