Matt Gaetz succeeds in ousting Kevin McCarthy from speakership, now vacant
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz succeeded in his motion motion to vacate California Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the U.S. House speakership Tuesday.
The House began voting at around 4 p.m. on Gaetz’s motion. It was approved 216-210.
The House took recess after the vote, with the speakership now being vacant.
Gaetz’s motion did draw ire from some more prominent House Republicans, like Rep. Jim Jordan, who urged his colleagues keep McCarthy.
During debate, Gaetz was criticized for sending fundraising messages and referencing his move to oust McCarthy from the speakership.
“Boo all you want!” he told the chamber Tuesday afternoon. “I’ll be happy to fund my political operation through the work of hardworking Americans [and] you all keep showing up at the lobbyist fundraisers and see how that goes for you.”
Before the Tuesday vote, Gaetz said he was “at peace” with whatever the outcome was going to be.
“One thing I’m at peace with is when we stand here a week from now, I won’t own Kevin McCarthy anymore,” he said. “He won’t belong to me. If the Democrats want to adopt him, they can adopt him.”
The Democrats in the House are lead by U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
McCarthy recently worked with Democrats and President Joe Biden to pass a spending bill to avert a government shutdown, which Jeffries called a victory for Americans and loss for “extreme MAGA Republicans.”
“The only thing that unifies Washington today is that @SpeakerMcCarthy has lied to all of us on one thing or another,” Gaetz said Monday, hours before filing to vacate the speakership.
Gaetz has thrusted himself to the forefront of conservative politics and has branded himself as an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump and the “MAGA” movement.
With that influence, he’s been rumored to be considering a run for governor of Florida in 2026, to which he has already secured the favor of former President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
“Matt Gaetz for governor!” Trump Jr. said last month.
“I want him to run for governor,” said Kimbery Guilfoyle, Trump Jr.’s partner.
“I would definitely enjoy that job so much,” Gaetz said. “I would never leave it if I ever got that opportunity.”
On Gaetz running for governor, the former president himself sung praise for Gaetz, but did not outright endorse him.
“Well, he’s a great guy,” Trump said. “I mean, he’s great. He’s a wonderful person. He’s strong. He went through Hell for two years over something that I never believed for a second, and he held up very strong. He was very strong.”
As Gaetz could be mulling a run for governor, his father, Don Gaetz, recently jumped into the Florida Senate race in District 1.
Don Gaetz served as Senate president from 2012 to 2014, and was in the Florida Senate from 2006 to 2016.
