House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) dared Republican colleagues during a closed-door meeting on Sept. 14 to make good on their threat to oust him from his leadership position.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) confirmed to The Epoch Times that Mr. McCarthy directly confronted the threat made by some hardline GOP House members, saying that “Kevin doesn’t live in fear.”
Mr. McCarthy reportedly dared opponents to put forth “the [expletive] motion” to vacate the chair.
The speaker has been under fire from disgruntled hardliners who believe that he has failed to deliver on promises made to them in January in exchange for supporting his bid for the speakership.
“On this very floor in January, the whole world witnessed a historic contest for House speaker. I rise today to serve notice. Mr. Speaker, you are out of compliance with the agreement that allowed you to assume this role,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said in a floor speech on Sept. 12. “The path forward for the House of Representatives is to either bring you into immediate total compliance or remove you, pursuant to a motion to vacate the chair.”
The same day, Rep. Andy Clyde (R-Ga.) said at a news conference that the approval of an unqualified or unrestricted continuing resolution on spending “would endanger the Republican majority and endanger Speaker McCarthy’s leadership.”
Upon Mr. McCarthy’s election as speaker in January, after a nearly unprecedented 5-day, 15-ballot ordeal, House rules were changed to allow a single House member to call for a vote to vacate the chair, which could remove the speaker with a majority vote.
The back-and-forth between House Republicans comes immediately after Mr. McCarthy announced the opening of an impeachment inquiry over President Joe Biden’s alleged dealings in his son Hunter Biden’s business affairs. Many believe that the move, which Mr. McCarthy initially resisted, is an attempt to placate ultra-conservative Republicans who have clambered for a Biden impeachment.
The House is also in the midst of a contentious battle over setting spending levels for the 2024 fiscal year, which begins in 17 days. Absent an agreement between the House and Senate, signed by the president, or a continuing resolution to allow spending after Sept. 30, nonessential government operations would be shut down.
House Republicans have been working to set spending levels for 2024 in keeping with the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which they approved in April. The Senate has been working to set spending levels in keeping with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, a compromise bill resulting from an agreement between Mr. McCarthy and President Biden.
Conservative Republicans held a news conference on Sept. 12, calling on Mr. McCarthy and Republican colleagues to cut spending even further.
