House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Tuesday that he won\u2019t offer Democrats any deals in exchange for their votes on a motion to vacate his speakership, which the House will begin considering later in the day.<\/p>\n
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., introduced a motion to vacate the speaker\u2019s office on Monday. McCarthy can only stand to lose a handful of votes, prompting speculation that he could seek help from across the aisle.<\/p>\n
McCarthy, however, quashed the notion on CNBC\u2019s \u2018Squawk Box,\u2019 declaring, \u2018They haven\u2019t asked for anything, and I\u2019m not going to provide anything.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Are we now in a situation in our government that we just provided keeping government open, that we\u2019re going to play politics with how you become speaker? If that\u2019s the case, then I think we\u2019ve got real problems,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
McCarthy said he refuses to put House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries \u2018in any position at all, and I respect whatever decision anybody makes.\u2019<\/p>\n
McCarthy said Gaetz has had it out for him \u2018from the very beginning.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018He\u2019s been blaming me for an ethics complaint against him that happened in the last Congress I have nothing to do with,\u2019 McCarthy said. \u2018He wants me to try to wipe that away. I\u2019m not going to do that. That\u2019s illegal. And you know what? If someway I lose my job because I uphold the law because I uphold the continuity of government, so be it.\u2019<\/p>\n
The House Ethics Committee has been investigating Gaetz since 2021 on allegations, including campaign finance violations as well as claims of taking bribes and using drugs \u2014 accusations the congressman has vehemently denied. Gaetz also denies allegations leaked from a Justice Department sex trafficking probe said to have involved an underage girl.<\/p>\n
Fox News\u2019 Daniel Wallace contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n