Gaetz threatens vote to boot McCarthy from speakership, demands 'total compliance'

Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz on Tuesday informed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that he would move forward with a bid to remove him from leadership of the lower chamber unless he fully honored the agreement he made with House conservatives to claim the gavel in January.

"I rise today to serve notice. Mr. Speaker, you are out of compliance with the agreement that allowed you to assume this role," Gaetz declared on the House floor. "The path forward for the House of Representatives is to either bring you into immediate total compliance or remove you, pursuant to a motion to vacate the chair."

McCarthy ultimately managed to secure the role of House speaker after 15 rounds of contentious voting. Conservative lawmakers had opposed him for most of the dispute, but ultimately relented after securing a litany of concessions from the California Republican.

Said lawmakers, however, appear dissatisfied with McCarthy's efforts to honor their deal. In his floor remarks, Gaetz admonished him for not following through with his pledges.

"We have had no vote on term limits or on balanced budgets, as the agreement demanded and required. There’s been no full release of the January 6 tapes, as you promised," Gaetz said. "There’s been insufficient accountability for the Biden crime family, and instead of cutting spending to raise the debt limit, you relied on budgetary gimmicks and rescissions so that you ultimately ended up serving as the valet to underwrite Biden’s debt and advance his spending agenda."

"Mr. Speaker, you boasted in January that we would use the power of the subpoena and the power of the purse. But here we are eight months later and we haven’t even sent the first subpoena to Hunter Biden," he went on, before excoriating McCarthy for supporting new budgetary resolutions that he said would advance Democratic priorities.

"Our leadership right now is asking us to vote for a continuing resolution, a vote for a continuing resolution is a vote to continue the green new deal, a vote to continue inflationary spending, and the most troubling of fashions, a vote for a continuing resolution is a vote to continue the election interference of Jack Smith," Gaetz declared. "September 30 is rapidly approaching and you have not put us in a position to succeed. There is no way to pass all the individual appropriations bills now."

The Florida Republican further opined that McCarthy's call for an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden had been a "rushed" and "rattled" performance, which he deemed a mere "baby step."

"We must move faster," he asserted.

"Mr. Speaker, dust off our written January agreement. You have a copy," Gaetz concluded. "No continuing resolutions, individual spending bills or bust. Votes on balanced budgets and term limits. Subpoenas for Hunter Biden and the members of the Biden family who have been gristing off of this country – grifting off of this country and the impeachment for Joe Biden that he so richly deserves. Do these things or face a motion to vacate the chair."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.