After leading the ouster of the House speaker, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) had “sharp criticism” for the first moves from the stand-in: “That’s moving in the wrong direction.”
(Video: NewsmaxTV)
With a vote of 216-210, Californian Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R) became a former speaker of the House following a motion to vacate brought by his colleague from Florida. Pursuant to House Rules, North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry (R) was handed the gavel Tuesday to act as speaker pro tempore, a role he used to dismiss the lower chamber until the following week.
“I do have to offer some pretty sharp criticism of the new pro tem of the House, Patrick McHenry,” Gaetz told NewmaxTV host Eric Bolling. “We met tonight and he sent us home until Tuesday of next week, Eric.”
“We should be here tomorrow working to elect a new speaker, getting onto our appropriations bills, and engaging in a negotiation with the Senate to get the government funded,” the congressman continued on “The Balance.”
“But instead…these people have gotta go home and cry for a week? They’ve gotta go do a week of handwringing and bedwetting over the fact that Kevin McCarthy isn’t speaker anymore?” wondered the lawmaker rhetorically. “This institution is about more than one man. It’s about the job. How about we pass a budget?”
“So, McHenry has the power of the speakership now. And literally, his first act as the acting speaker of the House was to send everyone home ’til Tuesday. That’s moving in the wrong direction,” asserted Gaetz. “We’ve gotta get a new speaker and we’ve gotta get leadership to understand a sense of urgency that your viewers and the American people all feel.”
The motion to vacate had many people buzzing about which Republican could garner enough votes to replace McCarthy with Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and Florida Rep. Byron Donalds a part of the conversation along with former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin and even former President Donald Trump.
Gaetz himself had commented on the possibility of of Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan taking the role and reacted to a post on X from Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie marking that as his first choice by stating, “My mentor Jim Jordan would be great!”
My mentor Jim Jordan would be great! https://t.co/hS3RPgDoN1
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) October 4, 2023
Bolling had voiced his own concerns on the subject when he began, “I have a lot of friends in Congress, as you know…a lot of congresspeople, whether they support you vocally and publicly or not, a lot of them felt, yes, you did the right thing, but the chaos that may ensue from this moment forward — they don’t think it was worth it.”
Meeting the criticism head-on, Gaetz replied, “Only in Washington is taking a few extra days of votes deemed ‘chaos.'”
“Do you know what chaos is, Eric?” he asked before rattling off big-picture problems. “Chaos is the dollar losing its status as the global reserve currency. Chaos is the greatest nation in the world sitting atop a $33 trillion debt. Chaos is accepting Biden budgets that will lead to $2.2 trillion annual deficits for the foreseeable future, forever. It would take us to a $50 trillion debt.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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