House Republican lawmakers have reportedly been looking for ways to oust Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as he leads an effort to topple House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Speaking with Fox News, House Republicans said that they will expel Matt Gaetz if the ethics committee report against him comes back with findings of wrongdoing. One anonymous member told Fox News that while they do not know the contents of the report, people in the House GOP have grown tired of Gaetz now that he has launched another plan to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“No one can stand him at this point. A smart guy without morals,” one lawmaker said.
It would take a two-thirds vote to expel Gaetz and Republican majorities stand a thin margin as it is.
On Sunday, Gaetz told CNN’s State of the Union that the House needs new and “trustworthy” leadership.
U.S. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) talks to Rep.-elect Matt Gaetz (R-FL) in the House Chamber during the fourth day of voting for Speaker of the House on January 06, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid. I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy. Look, the one thing everybody has in common is that nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy. He lied to Biden. He lied to House conservatives,” Gaetz said.
“Kevin McCarthy’s goal was to make multiple contradictory promises to delay everything back up against shutdown politics and at the end of the day, blow past the spending guardrails he had agreed,” he added.
Interestingly enough, CNN’s Jake Tapper revealed to Gaetz that he had seen “personal communications” from the congressman blaming McCarthy for the ethics investigation, hinting that Gaetz’s move could be personal.
“But I have seen personal communications between you and other people in which you blame McCarthy for your ethics investigation,” said Tapper.
“When Kevin McCarthy went out publicly and said, this isn’t about me breaking my word, it’s because Gaetz has ethics problems; certainly, that was him gaslighting the ethics committee,” Gaetz responded.
“This is personal with Matt,” McCarthy said, according to ABC producer and reporter Ben Siegel. “Let’s get over it, let’s start governing.”
Gaetz denied that the fight is personal.
“This isn’t personal, Jake. This is about spending,” Gaetz said Sunday. “This is about the deal Kevin McCarthy made. If Kevin McCarthy didn’t want to keep the deal to return to pre-COVID spending, if he didn’t want to keep the deal to have single subject spending bills, not vote for government spending all up or down at once, then he shouldn’t have made that deal. So this is about keeping Kevin McCarthy to his word. It’s not about any personal animus.”
As noted by Fox News, 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 — 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.”
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
