Rep. Matt Gaetz: McCarthy ‘Refused’ on ‘Term Limits,’ Balanced Budget, and ‘Border Plan’
Rep. Matt Gaetz: McCarthy ‘Refused’ on ‘Term Limits,’ Balanced Budget, and ‘Border Plan’… Lauren Boebert Unloads on McCarthy … Conservative Revolt Against RINO Kevin McCarthy Poised to Spread to Others in GOP Establishment.
via justthenews:
Adecade in the making, the conservative-led revolt that thwarted Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s bid to be Speaker on three consecutive votes Tuesday isn’t likely to stop in the House as those eager to disrupt the GOP’s status quo also have set their sights on Republican Party chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Some of the 20 House members who helped deprive McCarthy of the Speaker’s gavel on Tuesday said the votes should serve as a wakeup call to GOP leaders everywhere that the party needs to return to its roots of fiscal conservatism after two decades of reckless spending in Washington.
“In our mind, and so many people’s minds, spending is out of control,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told the Just the News, No Noise television show Tuesday night. “[Either] we’ll face it now, or just sit here until we come up with some type of solution and a leader that will fight.”
Explaining why he and several other House conservatives are not voting for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to be the new Speaker of the House, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said today that McCarthy had refused to accept some of the issues that conservatives wanted to address in the new Congress, such as term limits, a balanced budget, and a real plan to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
Gaetz also revealed that some incoming committee chairmen threatened to remove him and other conservatives from committees if they did not fall in line and vote for McCarthy.
“Those of us who will not be voting for Kevin McCarthy today take no joy in the discomfort that this moment has brought, but if you want to drain the swamp you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise,” said Gaetz. “I am a Florida man and I know of what I speak.”
Speaking at the Capitol, Gaetz was flanked by other opponents of McCarthy, including Rep. Scott Perry (R-Penn.) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.).
“We offered Kevin McCarthy terms last evening that he rejected,” said Gaetz. “We’ve sought a vote in a first quarter of the 118th Congress on term limits. He refused. We wanted a budget from the Republican Study Committee that balances on the floor in the first quarter. He refused. We wanted the border plan that the Texas delegation put together on the floor. He refused.”
“And it is true that we struggle with trust with Mr. McCarthy because, time and again, his viewpoints, his positions, they shift like sands underneath you,” said Gaetz. “Even Kevin McCarthy’s own mentor recently said that, ‘the lies always change.’ And Mr. McCarthy is not only responsive to pressure from the right. Time and again, he has failed to achieve the goals that we seek on spending and on the fight.”
– Fellow RINO Squish Mitch McConnell: ‘Of Course’ ‘I’m Just Pulling’ for McCarthy Speakership
– Conservatives Call on Marjorie Taylor Greene to Abandon RINO Kevin McCarthy and Vote for Jim Jordan
– Proof Kevin McCarthy Is the Wrong Guy: MSNBC Hack Joe Scarborough Smears Conservative Opponents as ‘Weirdos and Freaks’
– Lauren Boebert Unloads on McCarthy During His Plea to Become Speaker: ‘Bullshit’
“I've gotten a lot of emails from people telling me that they don't want me to vote for Kevin McCarthy [for Speaker], and I do listen to what my constituents say.”
–Rep-Elect @realAnnaPaulina pic.twitter.com/Zhy0JKbVOH
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) December 30, 2022
Why is Kevin McCarthy already using House Speaker’s office…
Gaetz sends letter to Architect of the Capitol asking why McCarthy is occupying Speaker’s office
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is seen following the second ballot for Speaker during the first day of the 118th session of Congress on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) sent a letter to the Architect of the Capitol on Tuesday questioning why House Speaker candidate Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was already inhabiting the Speaker’s office amid an intraparty battle over the House’s top leadership position.
“I write to inform you that the Speaker of the House Office located in the U.S. Capitol Building is currently occupied by Rep. Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz said in the letter.
“As of this morning, the 117th Congress adjourned sine die, and a Speaker from the 118th Congress has not been elected,” he continued. “After three undeciding votes, no member can lay claim to this office.”
McCarthy failed to secure a majority for his Speakership bid in three consecutive votes on Tuesday, leading Republican leaders to adjourn for the day. A group of 19 GOP lawmakers, including Gaetz, consistently opposed McCarthy on all three rounds, with Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) joining the anti-McCarthy group in the final vote of the day.
McCarthy on Tuesday criticized Gaetz for reportedly saying he did not care if House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) was elected in place of McCarthy as a result of the group’s tactics.
“They even came to the position where one Matt Gaetz said, ‘I don’t care if we got a plurality, and we elect Hakeem Jeffries,’” McCarthy said.
Gaetz has drawn the ire of several of his fellow Republicans for his staunch opposition, including Rep. Nancy Mace (S.C.).
“@RepMattGaetz full ego was on display today,” Mace said on Twitter. “He’s going to screw around and get another [Rep. Nancy] Pelosi elected Speaker. I’ll have a lot more to say about this political D-Lister tomorrow.”
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Resources:
https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/rep-matt-gaetz-mccarthy-refused-on-term-limits-balanced-budget-and-border-plan-lauren-boebert-unloads-on-mccarthy-conservative-revolt-a/
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3797668-gaetz-sends-letter-to-architect-of-the-capitol-asking-why-mccarthy-is-occupying-speakers-office/
