Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., wants House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to answer questions about his alleged "secret side deal" with President Joe Biden on Ukraine aid before following through on his vow to bring a notice to vacate against McCarthy "later this week."
Biden has been "taking Speaker McCarthy's lunch money" and working side deals on Ukraine aid, the debt limit, and Democrat spending initiatives, Gaetz said in House floor remarks Monday.
"So, Mr. Speaker, just tell us," Gaetz told the floor. "Just tell us what was in the secret Ukraine side deal. What commitments were made to President Biden to continue the spending of President Biden in exchange for doing things for President Biden?
"It has become increasingly clear who the speaker of the House already works for, and it's not the Republican conference."
Gaetz demanded "these questions be answered soon" before he brings the motion to vacate against McCarthy.
"There may be other votes coming today or later this week that could be implicated by the answers to these questions," Gaetz continued. "Members of the Republican Party might vote differently on a motion to vacate if they heard what the speaker had to share with us about his secret side deal with Joe Biden on Ukraine."
Gaetz also told reporters after his floor remarks that he spoke with former President Donald Trump about the notice to vacate push against McCarthy, but he did not elaborate on the details of their conversation, according to Capitol Hill reporters.
Gaetz, who has clashed with McCarthy for months, said he would file a motion that would set up a vote to remove McCarthy as speaker.
"We have a lot of folks in Congress who I think would be very capable to serve as speaker," Gaetz told reporters. "We need to rebuild trust."
McCarthy said on Sunday he expected he would survive the threat to his job.
Gaetz was one of more than a dozen Republicans who repeatedly voted against McCarthy's bid for speaker in January. McCarthy ultimately seized the gavel after 15 rounds of voting.
No U.S. House speaker has ever been removed from the position that puts the holder second in line in succession for the presidency after the vice president.
Gaetz was angered by McCarthy's move to pass a short-term funding bill Saturday with support from opposition Democrats to keep the government fully operating and avoid a shutdown. Gaetz and a group of other House Republicans insist on deep spending cuts that Democrats argue would break a deal brokered earlier this year by President Joe Biden and McCarthy.
House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has not said if his caucus would join right-wing Republicans to help topple McCarthy or if Democrats might support him in exchange for political or legislative favors.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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