Matt Gaetz: We should elect a more conservative, trustworthy speaker
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., reacts to Rep. Kevin McCarthy's ouster as speaker on 'The Ingraham Angle.'
House Judiciary Committee member Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., called out former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after stripping the gavel from the California Republican.
Earlier Tuesday, Gaetz stood opposite House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., in the well of the House, taking turns speaking out against and in favor of McCarthy, respectively. Cole often yielded time to a slew of other Republican members similarly supportive of McCarthy.
A roll call vote resulted in McCarthy's ouster by a tally of 216–210.
Gaetz was joined by Reps. Bob Good, R-Va., Eli Crane, R-Ariz., Ken Buck, R-Colo., and a handful of other conservatives who tipped the scales in McCarthy's disfavor — joined by all voting Democrats.
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Gaetz | McCarthy (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP, Al Drago/Bloomberg)
On "The Ingraham Angle," Gaetz said the "solution" to conflicts in the Republican conference is quite easy.
"We should get to electing a new, more conservative, more trustworthy speaker immediately," he said.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., assumed the role of acting speaker, and Gaetz called on McHenry to reconsider his move to dismiss the House through next Tuesday.
"We should stay and elect a new speaker — that's the path ahead," he said.
"As far as the criticism that I worked with Democrats, the Yellow Brick Road of working with Democrats was paved by Kevin McCarthy whether it was the debt limit deal, whether it was the continuing resolutions."
He claimed McCarthy was only willing to partner with conservatives on "frivolous" issues while partnering with Democrats on weightier, spending-related items.
Gaetz also said he wishes the ousted speaker well, and retains no personal animus.
Tuesday evening, McCarthy spoke about his ouster, expressing he had no regrets for how he ran the House.
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He boasted about gaining five Republican seats in deeply Democratic California and New York while in his leadership position, adding that he will continue to fight for Republican values.
"In today's world, if you're sitting in Congress and you took a gamble to make sure government was still open and eight people can throw you out as speaker, and the Democrats who said they wanted to keep government open — I think you've got a real divide," McCarthy said. "I think you have a real institutional problem."
He said Democrats began the deterioration of the "institution" of Congress when they set the precedent to eject Republican members from committees like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in the prior Congress.
The ousted speaker also spoke about Gaetz, rejecting claims the conflict is not personal.
"It had nothing to do about spending — everything he accused somebody of, he was doing," McCarthy said.
"It was all about getting attention from [the press]. That's not governing [and] that's not becoming of a member of Congress."
Gaetz spoke after McCarthy's remarks, telling "The Ingraham Angle" McCarthy has a skewed view of conservatives, and accusing the former speaker of having a prerogative for continuing resolutions rather than substantive funding bills.
He called on Congress to return to the governance of the 1990s, when then-Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., was House speaker, saying every bill was "conferenced, debated and [subject] to amendments."
Gaetz said he will continue to appear on the campaign trail for former President Donald Trump, but dismissed reports he is considering a run for Florida governor in 2026, when incumbent Ron DeSantis is term-limited.
"I've seen the despondence and sadness in conservatives who don't believe that Republicans in Congress are fighting enough for them," he later added.
Gaetz said earlier Tuesday in his closing floor remarks that McCarthy had not sufficiently supported breaking the "fever" of Washington, D.C.'s reliance on special interests over the interests of the American people.
Appearing to reference the establishment's purported reliance on big donors, Gaetz said at one point he will be happy to fund his own political future with small-dollar donations.
For his part, McCarthy successfully sought the passage of a 45-day continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown, but Gaetz and other right-wing lawmakers criticized the move as one that failed to force the issue on securing the border and curtailing government spending.
Gaetz declared McCarthy "in breach of" agreements made when he became speaker in January, namely that single-subject spending bills, a balanced budget resolution and term limit legislation be considered on the floor.
Speaking to reporters outside the Capitol immediately following the vote, Gaetz said the result will be to the "benefit of the country that we have a better speaker of the House than Kevin McCarthy."
"He couldn't keep his word," he added. "We are $33 trillion in debt… we face a de-dollarization globally that will crush working-class Americans."
When asked who he might support as a future speaker, Gaetz name-dropped Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., whom he said he "think[s] the world of." One reporter asked about House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and Gaetz offered similar praise.
In a press release, Gaetz accused McCarthy of "teaming up with Democrats" to pass Saturday's continuing resolution, which he said funds special counsel Jack Smith's "election interference" probe against Trump, and "abandons E-Verify" amid a deluge of illegal immigrants entering the United States.
The House of Representatives cannot move forward with bills or other business until a new speaker is successfully seated. McCarthy's bid for the speakership in January lasted 15 voting rounds, more than normal.
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