Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) kept his word on Monday and called for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to be ousted from his position for allegedly not keeping his promises to conservatives.

(Video Credit: C-SPAN)

The Florida congressman sought recognition on the House floor to declare “the office of speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant” and “resolve that the speaker of the House of Representatives is hereby declared to be vacant.” A motion that has not been made in more than a century.

The conflict between the two Republicans has been very public and has exploded in the House of Representatives. McCarthy challenged Gaetz to go ahead and try to remove him on Monday by posting to X, “Bring it on.”

Gaetz responded by saying, “Just did.”

Just did. https://t.co/zdQk3GblbV

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) October 2, 2023

Gaetz made his move after accusing McCarthy of brokering a deal with Democrats over Ukraine spending on the side while discussing a continuing resolution to fund the government.

He also charged that McCarthy broke a deal he made with the House Freedom Caucus in January when he was allowed to become speaker following a very tense standoff between a band of Republicans led by Gaetz and other GOP House members. That deal contained a number of concessions that Gaetz claims McCarthy did not honor.

“If the Democrats want to own Kevin McCarthy, they can have him, because one thing I’m at peace with is when we stand here a week from now, I won’t own Kevin McCarthy anymore. He won’t belong to me. So if the Democrats want to adopt him, they can adopt him,” Gaetz told reporters after calling for his removal.

“If he’s able to stay in power, it will be him working for the Democrats continuing to do their bidding. So this is a revealing exercise, and I think it’ll show the country who’s really in charge,” he added.

(Video Credit: C-SPAN)

In response to CNN host Manu Raju contending that McCarthy would just run for speaker again during a press gathering, Gaetz responded, “Well I would think that if it took Kevin McCarthy 15 rounds to become speaker, and after eight months of a failed speakership, and after a successful removal vote, as your hypothesis would portend, that he would take a hint.”

The Florida Republican previously supported House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) as speaker and is doing so once again. Currently, Scalise is undergoing cancer treatment.

“I think very highly of Steve Scalise. I would vote for Steve Scalise. I would probably vote for at least a hundred Republicans in our caucus and maybe a hundred other Americans out there who wouldn’t necessarily need to be a member of the body to be considered for the speakership, but I am not going to pass over Steve Scalise just because he has blood cancer and is going through treatment,” Gaetz asserted.

(Video Credit: CNN)

A reporter asked him, “Is this like a personal disagreement you have with McCarthy?”

“It’s so funny that I come out here and I’ve been doing this for a great number of days with all of you, and I lay out in technicolor the specific areas of breach of the agreement, breaching the 72-hour role, breaching the suspension rule, blowing past the toplines, not passing single-subject spending bills. And yet the McCarthy operation continues to try to make this some sort of personal beef,” Gaetz replied.

“This has nothing to do with personality, this has to do with breach of an agreement. I laid that breach out weeks ago. I stood on the floor, you all covered it, and I said these are the areas of breach, they have to be rectified. Instead of getting any sincere effort to resolve that, you know, we heard the speaker’s profanity and his bluster, and that’s simply not strong leadership,” he declared.

The other side of the argument was highlighted by Fox News host Laura Ingraham when she asked her panelists on Monday what they thought of Gaetz’s actions as she pointed out that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich pushed back hard against trying to remove McCarthy. The panelists said that what Gaetz is doing is risky and foolish.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

“Newt Gingrich pushed back really hard over the weekend on social media saying this is a self-inflicted wound on the part of the Republican Party,” Ingraham said of the former speaker, noting that he agreed with Gaetz on cutting back spending. “So, what is this gonna ultimately accomplish?”

“I’m not too sure it’s gonna accomplish that much,” Christopher Bedford of the Common Sense Society stated, giving his take on the issue. “There’s a lot of real principled opposition to McCarthy… What’s going on between McCarthy and Gaetz at this point seems like a personal grudge.”

Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer took severe issue with Gaetz’s attempt to vacate the speakership.

“I think it’s nihilistic,” he asserted. “I just don’t know what they seek to accomplish. And whoever it is, is gonna be the next speaker, they’re gonna try to vacate that person. Anybody who has to make any agreement or compromise, they are against. You can’t vote with a five-vote majority and speak like you have a 50-vote majority. Republicans only have five.”

Choose your fighter pic.twitter.com/kDbaIs9zLU

— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) October 3, 2023

“You have to have more votes,” Ingraham proclaimed. “You have to get power back. And until you get the votes, you can’t make a lot of these seminal decisions.”

The last time a move to vacate was tried was back in 1910 when an effort to remove Speaker Joseph Cannon failed.

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