Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who resigned from the House late last year after he was ousted from his top post, said Sunday that people should not fear a push to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson, as he does not think it will happen.
"I do not think they could do it again," the California Republican, the first House speaker in history to be ousted, told CBS News' "Face the Nation."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., formally filed a motion Friday to remove Johnson, R-La., because of his support of the $1.2 trillion spending bill. The vacate procedure was also used in October to remove McCarthy.
McCarthy, who represented California's 20th district for several years before his resignation, said he thinks Republicans have "moved past" such actions.
"We're close to the election," he said. "We've watched what transpired the last time you went three weeks without Congress being able to act. You can't do anything if you don't have a speaker. I think we've moved past that."
Instead, he urged House Republicans to "just move forward" and focus on their jobs, and said that Johnson is "doing the very best job he can."
Meanwhile, McCarthy said he is confident the House Republicans can continue to govern effectively after the party's majority in the House has shrunk to a one-seat majority after the resignations of several Republicans, the latest being Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who plans to leave in April.
"You have the majority," he said. "You can still govern and use that power to do exactly that."
McCarthy also on Sunday said he does not think Johnson is hesitating on votes over fears of being thrown out, including on Ukraine funding.
"The motion Marjorie put in was not privileged so it's not being called up for a vote," he said. "I don't think the Democrats will go along with this either…we've got a lot of challenges. We got FISA coming up before us, we've got Ukraine funding, we've got a border wide open…if we focus on the country, and what the country desires I think the personalities can solve their own problems."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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