A government shutdown seemed all but certain as we headed into the weekend. But in what The New York Times called a “stunning turnabout,” the House approved a stopgap measure to keep the federal government open until mid-November.
That, however, sets up another showdown.
The Washington Post’s Marianna Sotomayor, Leigh Ann Caldwell and Mariana Alfaro report that this is a short-term win for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, but it “may come with a price: his job. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said Sunday that he is determined to try to oust McCarthy from his leadership position after McCarthy passed a stopgap measure to fund the government with Democratic support.”
Gaetz turned the Sunday morning news show into his megaphone for this week’s plans. That was the big theme of the Sunday shows: the government shutdown story and the future leader of the House.
Appearing on Sunday’s “State of the Union” on CNN, Gaetz told host Jake Tapper that he will file a motion this week to vacate McCarthy from leadership.
Gaetz said, “I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid. I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy. Look, the one thing everybody has in common is that nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy. He lied to Biden. He lied to House conservatives. He had appropriators marking to a different number altogether. And the reason we were backed up against the shutdown politics is not a bug of the system. It's a feature. Kevin McCarthy's goal was to make multiple contradictory promises, to delay everything, back us up against shutdown politics, and, at the end of the day, blow past the spending guardrails he had agreed to.”
Just a day earlier, on Saturday, McCarthy told reporters, “If somebody wants to make a motion against me, bring it.”
Gaetz told ABC’s Jonathan Karl on “This Week,” “Kevin McCarthy’s gonna get his wish.”
Meanwhile, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also appeared on “State of the Union” and said, “I believe that it’s up to the Republican conference to determine their own leadership and deal with their own problems. But it’s not up to Democrats to save Republicans, from themselves, especially.”
However, she added, “Would I cast that vote? Absolutely. Absolutely. I think Kevin McCarthy is a very weak speaker. He clearly has lost control of his caucus. He has brought the United States and millions of Americans to the brink, waiting until the final hour to keep the government open, and, even then, only issuing a 45-day extension. So, we're going to be right back in this place in November. And I think that our main priority has to be the American people and what's going to keep our governance in a cohesive and strong place. But, unless Kevin McCarthy asks for a vote, again, I don’t think we give something away for free.”
McCarthy appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and told moderator Margaret Brennan, “I’ll survive. This is personal with Matt. If he’s upset because he tried to push us into a shutdown, and I made sure the government didn’t shut down, then let’s have that fight.”
So can this actually happen? Might Gaetz be successful in ousting McCarthy?
Politico’s Ryan Lizza writes, “Let’s assume Gaetz starts with only a handful of Republicans — perhaps just five, maybe as many as 10 — and that McCarthy has no chance of turning this group around. It’s not much, and that means Gaetz needs Democrats — perhaps as many as 200 — to oust McCarthy. (Ironic considering that his line today was that McCarthy is the Democrats’ speaker.)”
So maybe Gaetz can’t pull this off. But Lizza writes, “If McCarthy survives with the help of Democratic votes, Gaetz will no doubt relentlessly attack him, as he has already, as ‘the Democrats’ speaker.’ The overall effort will have done a lot of damage. What if Gaetz offers a second MTV (move to vacate), as anyone who knows him realizes he surely would, and McCarthy again has to survive with Democratic help? What happens on the second or third vote? Does Gaetz garner more Republican support? Does McCarthy need to find more Democratic support? There’s no limit to how many times Gaetz could do this. Eventually, this would become untenable for McCarthy.”
Ultimately, Lizza points out, Democrats have to determine whether it’s better for them to have McCarthy as speaker. On one hand, they know McCarthy — or, as Lizza writes, he’s the devil they know. On the other hand, McCarthy is one of the GOP’s best fundraisers and the Democrats might like to have him out as speaker.
Lizza writes, “One thing is clear: For the (House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries), this is an unprecedented situation, one that no minority leader has ever faced. He suddenly has enormous leverage, but will have to weigh carefully how aggressively to use it.”
