Rep. Matthew Gaetz (R-FL) has put forth a motion to have House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) removed as Speaker of the House.
Newt Gingrich, a former Speaker himself, just weighed in with a recommendation that is creating quite a buzz.
On Monday, Gaetz officially floored the motion to remove McCarthy from his post…
After filing his resolution, Gaetz stated:
"If he's able to stay in power, it will be him working for the Democrats, continuing to do their bidding. So this is a revealing exercise, and I think it will show the country who's really in charge."
There is some support for the motion, but I am just not sure he will have enough to have McCarthy removed.
There will be significant Democrat support for this, so don't just dismiss it because if Gaetz can whip up a few dozen Republicans, McCarthy will be removed.
Senator Graham (R-S.C.) does not believe Gaetz will get that support, however, stating:
"I think Kevin is the right guy at the right time. The only way he loses his job is if a handful of Republicans join up with the Democratic Party to fire him."
"That would be a disaster for the future of the Republican Party. That's not gonna happen. Kevin has the overwhelming confidence of his membership, he worked to avoid a shutdown. He will fund Ukraine, but he's telling everybody in the country, including me, you better send something over for the border for me to help Ukraine, and he's right to make that demand."
Gingrich had a rather extreme approach to dealing with Gaetz on this issue.
He stated:
"The effort to expel Matt Gaetz for being a destructive, irresponsible anti-Republican may be a step too far. Expulsion from the House requires a two thirds vote.
"However expelling him from the House Republican Conference and eliminating all his committee assignments and all resources other than those an individual member is entitled to would be a rational response to his suicidal efforts to cripple the House GOP."
I think Gingrich even suggesting this is ludicrous.
I don't really like Gaetz, but he has done nothing wrong here that would warrant his removal from committees or the caucus.
All Gaetz has done is follow the rules to voice his displeasure with the current Speaker, which he is entitled to do.
This does not even compare to Rep. Bowman pulling the fire alarm during a legislative session or Ilhan Omar's anti-American statements… it's not even close to that.
This is a move that Democrats do to silence the opposition. This is not how Republicans are supposed to act.
Furthermore, Gaetz has done nothing in committee that would warrant his removal. In fact, in recent hearings, he has been exceptional.
I have thrown my fair share of shade at Gaetz, especially recently, but he has literally done nothing to warrant his removal and if McCarthy removes him from the caucus simply because he will not get in line, he should be removed as Speaker.
Honestly, I have lost all respect for Gingrich over this, and he was someone whose opinion I generally valued. That is no longer the case if this is how he reacts to a dissenting opinion within the caucus.
