Conservatives aligned with former President Donald Trump are coming out in opposition to the motion by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to vacate House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., over the stopgap government funding bill that passed late Saturday.<\/p>\n
Gaetz threatened over the weekend that he would file the motion this week, which would aim to effectively oust McCarthy from the speakership after he accused McCarthy of making a \u2018side deal\u2019 with Democrats to send additional aid to Ukraine. McCarthy, who said he supports arming Ukraine but not sending additional money to Ukraine, rejected the notion that a side deal took place with Democrats or President Biden.<\/p>\n
\u2018For all the crocodile tears about what may happen later this week about a motion to vacate, working with the Democrats is a yellow brick road that has been paved by Speaker McCarthy,\u2019 Gaetz said during a floor speech Monday afternoon. \u2018Whether it was the debt limit deal, the [continuing resolution] or now the secret deal on Ukraine.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018This is swampy log-rolling,\u2019 Gaetz added. \u2018The American people deserve single-subject bills. I get that a lot of folks might disagree with my perspectives on the border or on Ukraine, but can we at least agree that no matter how you feel about Ukraine or the southern border, they each deserve the dignity of their own consideration and should not be rolled together where they might pass, where each individually wouldn\u2019t. This is what we\u2019re trying to get away from.\u2019<\/p>\n
On Saturday, the House and Senate passed a stopgap government funding bill that Biden signed later that evening. The bill passed the House in a 335-91 vote and helped avoid a government shutdown \u2013 which would have resulted in thousands of federal employees being furloughed \u2013 and extended funding through mid-November.<\/p>\n
Gaetz ultimately filed a motion to vacate on Monday evening, hours after he said in his floor speech to \u2018stay tuned.\u2019 The House is poised to vote on the motion Tuesday afternoon after a separate effort to kill the motion failed.<\/p>\n
His actions garnered pushback from Republicans, including those who have traditionally been aligned with Trump.<\/p>\n
\u2018Yes, that is correct,\u2019 conservative commentator Mark Levin said Monday. \u2018The guy who says McCarthy is the Democrats\u2019 speaker is plotting and scheming with the radical Democrats to take out a Republican speaker who is more conservative than he is (McCarthy backed the Freedom Caucus CR and the cuts and border security, which Gaetz and 4 others killed).\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018There are now numerous reports that Gaetz is doing this not because he insists that McCarthy interfered with an ethics investigation of him, which a speaker cannot do and has never done,\u2019 Levin continued. \u2018I might add that after two years it\u2019s about time the Ethics Committee release its report and either lift the cloud over Gaetz or clear him. Gaetz should demand this as well.\u2019<\/p>\n
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said that while she shares substantive concerns with Gaetz about McCarthy\u2019s leadership, she won\u2019t support a motion to vacate.<\/p>\n
\u2018What I see is a system of failure and a federal government that serves the world first and America last and my desire for wanting to fix it is why I ran for Congress in the first place,\u2019 the Georgia Republican said. \u2018So, I agree with Matt Gaetz that things must change, but I don\u2019t agree that a motion to vacate will effectively create the changes needed to solve the intentional systemic failure that create the annual never-ending CR\u2019s and Christmas omnibus mega-spending packages.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018A [motion to vacate] of our speaker gives the upper hand to the Democrats during dangerous times while we have been handed over under the presidency of an ailing old man ridden with dementia [who] has spent over 50 years in Washington seats of power corruptly enriching himself and his family by delivering policy deals to foreign investors,\u2019 she added.<\/p>\n
Additionally, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich suggested that GOP leadership could expel Gaetz from the House Republican Conference and eliminate his committee assignments.<\/p>\n
\u2018Is Gaetz secretly an agent for the Democratic Party? No one else is doing as much to undermine, weaken and cripple the House GOP,\u2019 Gingrich said in a social media post.<\/p>\n
Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, a former Trump aide who was endorsed by the former president, blasted Gaetz in a post on X on Tuesday, saying, \u2018It says a lot that Matt Gaetz and his small crew of supposed conservatives are speaking from the Democrat side of the House chamber.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Instead of working on appropriations bills, we watch as Gaetz joins with Democrats to halt our conservative agenda,\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n
And Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., who was endorsed by Trump during the 2022 election, blasted the effort to file a motion to vacate as counterproductive and self-destructive during a floor speech that preceded Gaetz\u2019s on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u2018We are faced with the threat that a Republican will move to vacate the Republican speaker of the House. It will only require four other Republican members to join the Democrats to achieve this result,\u2019 McClintock said. \u2018The immediate effect will be to paralyze the House indefinitely because no other business can be taken up until a replacement is elected.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Just when we are on the verge of completing the appropriations process, that in turn will finally initiate discussions with the Senate that are vital to change the dangerous path that our country is on \u2013 I cannot conceive of a more counterproductive and self-destructive course than that,\u2019 the California Republican added. \u2018The supreme irony is that this is being initiated by self-described conservatives.\u2019<\/p>\n
Also on Monday, former senior White House adviser Stephen Miller said McCarthy is \u2018not going to be going anywhere\u2019 and called for unity among Republicans to solve border security issues.<\/p>\n
\u2018I think at this point in time, it\u2019s very clear that Kevin is not going to be going anywhere,\u2019 Miller said in an interview with FOX Business. \u2018He has the support of 218 members and I understand and I need to \u2013 everybody rise above. I understand all the emotions that are playing out right now.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018But for the love of God, we are losing this country, and we are losing it fast,\u2019 he continued. \u2018Republicans need to unify around the twin mission of stopping the open border invasion and stopping a government that has been weaponized against conservatives and Christians and anyone who does not subscribe to the tenets of the radical left.\u2019<\/p>\n
Gaetz\u2019s office did not respond to Fox News Digital\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n