Several House Republicans in a key bipartisan group have said they could soon see a mass exodus over their Democratic counterparts\u2019 role in Speaker Kevin McCarthy\u2019s ouster this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m really thinking strongly about leaving the Problem Solvers Caucus,\u2019 Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital. \u2018I think there\u2019s a lot of Republicans who are disenchanted with the Democratic members of the Problem Solvers Caucus.\u2019<\/p>\n
McCarthy, R-Calif., became the first speaker of the House in U.S. history to be booted from the job after eight hardliners within his party joined with every Democrat to vote him out of it.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m very frustrated that none of the members who claim to be centrist\u2026 would work with us to defeat this motion to vacate,\u2019 Malliotakis said. \u2018If their whole purpose is to bring good governance and make sure that we can continue our work to get through this appropriations process in the next 40 days, they should have done the right thing here, which would have been to\u2026 keep Congress working.\u2019<\/p>\n
Rep. Anthony D\u2019Esposito, R-N.Y., said when asked if he and other Republicans wanted to leave the group, \u2018I don\u2019t want to speak for them, but I know I am definitely not happy, and I\u2019ve\u2026 spoken to others who feel similar.\u2019<\/p>\n
A source familiar with discussions told Fox News Digital that senior Republicans in the Problem Solvers Caucus were under the impression that several Democratic lawmakers would shield McCarthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Republican leaders in the Problem Solvers Caucus made last-ditch efforts up until the vote to get Democrats to help save McCarthy\u2019s speakership. They viewed it as an opportunity for a bipartisan effort to save the institution after Speaker McCarthy put a bipartisan bill to avert a government shutdown on the floor,\u2019 the source said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Before the House Dem meeting, a few Dem members had indicated that they would likely help save McCarthy and then flipped and joined [Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.] in ousting the speaker.\u2019<\/p>\n
Democrats would not have necessarily had to vote for McCarthy to save him. If enough lawmakers voted \u2018present\u2019 it would have given him a lower threshold needed to reach a simple majority \u2013 though the effect would have been the same.<\/p>\n
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said when asked about Republicans leaving the Problem Solvers Caucus, \u2018I think a number of my colleagues have certainly raised that.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018I have not yet. I think that, you know, I want to let cooler heads prevail a little bit before having that conversation,\u2019 Lawler said. \u2018But, you know, I think this was a problem to be solved, and folks failed to meet the moment.\u2019<\/p>\n
Problem Solvers Caucus co-chair Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., said on CNBC on Thursday, \u2018There are a lot of us that are very upset\u2026 This was a golden opportunity for us to come together and actually oppose a move by the extremists in Congress, and the whole institution fell short.\u2019<\/p>\n
Malliotakis accused Democrats of acting hypocritically in voting the same way as Gaetz and other GOP hardliners.<\/p>\n
\u2018You can\u2019t have it both ways,\u2019 she said. \u2018You can\u2019t say reject the extremists and then go out of your way to work with them.\u2019<\/p>\n
D\u2019Esposito called it \u2018the most extreme legislative action\u2019 he had seen on the House floor.<\/p>\n
\u2018Many Democrats wrongly slander their Republican colleagues as alleged \u2018extremists,\u2019 but when push came to shove, those same Democrats entered into an unholy alliance with Matt Gaetz and his crew of misfits to paralyze the government,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Fox News Digital reached out to the Problem Solvers Caucus for comment but did not immediately hear back.\u00a0<\/p>\n