And Just Like That, Matt Gaetz Has Vowed To Try And Oust Kevin McCarthy Over The Averted Government Shutdown

Matt Gaetz does not like that Kevin McCarthy. There have been some theories about the genesis of his anger (maybe McCarthy allegedly insulting him in front of a young aide didn’t help), but whatever the case the Florida lawmaker has it out for him. At the top of the year, he’s gummed up the works of ascension to Speaker of the House. Throughout the battle to keep the federal government funded, he’s been a pain. And now that that crisis has been averted, he’s done the inevitable.

On Sunday Gaetz went on CNN, where he unloaded about McCarthy working with Democrats to avert another disastrous shutdown.

“Speaker McCarthy made an agreement with House conservatives in January and since then he’s been in brazen, repeated material breach of that agreement,” Gaetz explained. “This agreement that he made with Democrats to really blow past a lot of the spending guardrails we set up is a last straw.”

And so Gaetz made the most predictable move possible. “I do intend to file a motion to vacate against Speaker McCarthy this week,” he revealed. “I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid. I think we need to move on with new leadership that will be trustworthy.”

When McCarthy clinched the Speaker gig, he did so only after a humiliating 15 rounds of vote, spread over several days. Much of the delay was courtesy Gaetz, who so opposed him that a fight nearly broke out on the House floor. He’s continued being a thorn in his side, forcing him to kowtow to the extremist MAGA wing of the party. But as the deadline for shutdown loomed, McCarthy threw them under the bus.

“If somebody wants to make a motion against me, bring it,” McCarthy said during a press conference. “There has to be an adult in the room. I am going to govern with what’s best for this country.”

Naturally that only made Gaetz madder. “When you host this show next week, if Kevin McCarthy is still speaker of the House, he will be serving at the pleasure of the Democrats,” Gaetz told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “He will be working for the Democrats.”

Hours after the House finally passed a bipartisan bill to avert a government shutdown — for now, for 45 days — the Senate did the same. The crisis is over, but McCarthy’s headaches not only live on but will likely get worse.

(Via CNN)