The long-running feud between Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) goes back much further than Tuesday’s historic vote to unseat McCarthy as House speaker.
Gaetz has long been McCarthy’s most vocal opponent, voting dramatically for “Present” instead of endorsing the California Republican’s gavel bid in January.
McCarthy has repeatedly claimed that Gaetz holds a grudge against him for rejecting his demand that McCarthy intervene in an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation.
“He is blaming me for an ethics complaint against him that occurred in the last Congress. I have nothing to do with it,” McCarthy told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” just hours before he was ousted.
Gaetz, who is rumored to be considering a run for Florida governor in 2026, is being watched by the ethics panel for allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and campaign finance violations, in addition to accepting bribes.
Many members of Congress, including fellow Republicans, are reportedly eager to oust the Sunshine State politician if he is found guilty of wrongdoing.
Kevin McCarthy was removed as speaker of the House of Representatives on October 3, 2023. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
“He wants me to try to erase that… I’m not going to do that. That’s illegal,” McCarthy said Tuesday morning. “And you know what? If I somehow lose my job because I comply with the law [and the] continuity of government, so be it.”
The Republican-controlled House Ethics Committee quietly relaunched its investigation into Gaetz last July, CNN reported.
The investigation was originally opened in April 2021 alongside a Justice Department investigation into allegations that Gaetz was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.
Eight Republicans joined all Democrats to oust McCarthy.C-SPAN via ReutersRep. Matt Gaetz said he wanted McCarthy removed as president because of his lack of commitment to spending cuts.Reuters TV
Federal officials concluded their two-year investigation in February without filing criminal charges, but sources told CNN that the Justice Department’s decision will not affect what the committee will and will not investigate.
Details of the investigation have long been kept secret, but they center on claims that Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use; she shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor; misused state identification records; campaign funds converted for personal use; and accepted bribes.
Gaetz has long professed his innocence of both the investigation’s claims and McCarthy’s assertion that the Floridian blames the now-former House speaker for the revitalized investigation.
Gaetz initially did not support McCarthy’s run for president in January. Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty ImagesMcCarthy claimed that Gaetz holds a grudge against her because she refused to intervene in an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation into him.REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Instead, Gaetz maintains that he pushed for McCarthy’s ouster because the California congressman has not seriously supported spending cuts, and claimed Sunday that the president had been negotiating a secret deal with President Biden to secure aid to Ukraine while supporting an interim measure to fund the government that does not include aid to the war-torn country. (McCarthy has denied such an agreement.)
“When Kevin McCarthy came out publicly and said, ‘This isn’t about me breaking my word, it’s because Gaetz has ethics problems,’ certainly he was the one who misled the Ethics Committee,” Gaetz told the host of “State of the Union” on CNN. Jake Tapper.
McCarthy ousted as president, now what?
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was removed as House Speaker after a historic vote led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) has been appointed temporary chair until a new chair can be elected.
The House had never before removed and replaced a president in its 234-year history.
Several representatives have been proposed as potential speakers, but it is unclear who will succeed McCarthy at this time.
Nancy Pelosi has been evicted from her Capitol office by the acting president.
McCarthy criticized Gaetz in a challenging interview with reporters, calling the Florida congressman a faux conservative and calling his move “personal.”
“But here’s the thing: I’m not alone. People may say this is a party of one. I have tens of millions of Americans supporting me on this. And I have the necessary number of Republicans in the House of Representatives, a sufficient number, to ensure that we no longer own Kevin McCarthy.”
Gaetz was one of more than a dozen far-right Republicans who refused to endorse McCarthy’s bid for president in January, although the filibuster did not prevent McCarthy from getting the gavel after 15 rounds of voting.
As a condition of winning that January vote, McCarthy agreed to a rule change that allowed any member to request a vote to impeach the president, setting the stage for Gaetz’s move this week.
No speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has previously been removed from the office, which is second in line to the presidency after the vice president.
With post cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn