Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz spearheaded the removal of Kevin McCarthy as the Speaker of the House this month and doesn’t regret doing so.
Despite the turmoil in Israel, Gaetz said in an interview with CNN that he stands by his decision, saying the House lacking a Speaker won’t affect the United States’ ability to aid Israel.
Here is his full interview with CNN:
“We have Israel essentially on auto pay as a consequence of legislation that was passed by Senator Marco Rubio of Florida,” Gaetz said Saturday. “The administration has pre-authorized to meet any need that Israel could possibly express in this particular phase of the crisis.”
He also added that Republicans are ready to elect Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan as the permanent Speaker this week and they are ready to “move forward with resolutions and support.”
Gaetz said that the speakership vote “probably could have” happened Friday night, but McCarthy asked for the vote to be delayed because he wanted Jordan’s family to be in town for the vote.
“I guess one thing Kevin McCarthy and I agree on, Jim Jordan is gonna be the next Speaker of the House,” Gaetz said.
Gaetz and Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene complained that the vote for Speaker has been held in secret and would rather have the vote on the House floor.
These are some of the things they said in the Fox News article:
“Let’s do this on the House floor instead of behind closed doors,” Greene tweeted. “Stop dragging it out.”
“If Kevin McCarthy had to go 15 rounds then the next Speaker should be able to do the same or more if they have to,” Greene continued. “Our job titles are REPRESENTATIVES of the American People. Let’s go.”
Gaetz agreed with Greene, saying the GOP should “do the messy work of governing and leadership selection in front of the people.”
“Just like I voted against McCarthy time after time…in public…making my argument, others should have to reveal their thinking and be appropriately judged by their voters,” Gaetz said.
“We elected [and] removed McCarthy with total transparency,” the Florida congressman said of his motion to vacate, a very public House function. “Let’s replace him in the same manner.”
If Jordan is unable to get enough votes to become the next Speaker of the House, expect the leadership fight to continue for a while because the Democrats are banking on the chaos so they can vote Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in as the new House Speaker.
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