As Rep. Matt Gaetz looks to remove Kevin McCarthy from the speakership, some within his own party are seeking to remove Gaetz — from Congress entirely.
Gaetz has said repeatedly that he planned to move to vacate the speakership “this week,” a move that, if successful, would remove McCarthy from the role and force another, or potentially a series of votes, to determine his successor.
However, Gaetz is the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation that is expected to wrap up soon, Fox News reported Sunday.
One unnamed Republican House member reportedly told Fox that the report was “mostly written,” but they didn’t know what it concluded about the representative from Florida.
“No one can stand him at this point,” the source told Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich. “A smart guy without morals.”
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House GOP members are seeking to quickly expel Gaetz if the ethics report comes back with findings of guilt.
Following threats to vacate McCarthy, one tells me “No one can stand him at this point. A smart guy without morals.”
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) October 1, 2023
The Ethics Committee reopened an investigation into Gaetz earlier this year, after the Department of Justice announced it would not charge Gaetz in connection with allegations of drug use, corruption and sexual misconduct with a minor.
The committee had previously been investigating Gaetz, but put that on hold until the DOJ announced its findings.
Should Gaetz be expelled from Congress?
Yes: 22% (44 Votes)
No: 78% (158 Votes)
However, various outlets including ABC News reported in July that the House committee had resumed it work and was seeking documents and witness interviews.
“The Ethics Committee typically operates through leaks and so this is no surprise, but the Ethics Committee has never found me to be in violation of House rules, though they’ve been investigating me during my entire seven years in Congress,” Gaetz told CNN at the time.
Last year, a formerly close friend of Gaetz, former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, received an 11-year prison sentence as part of a plea deal involving wire fraud and the sex trafficking of a minor, ABC noted.
Gaetz has, of course, denied all wrongdoing.
If the committee report fails to clear him, Gaetz will likely face a motion to expel him from the House. For the motion to succeed, two-thirds of the House would have to vote in favor of it.
It was not immediately clear how much support the motion would have, although presumably most House Democrats would join with some Republicans in voting for Gaetz’ ouster.
Some House Democrats, however, might prefer to keep Gaetz in his current role, serving as a perpetual thorn in Speaker McCarthy’s side.
Gaetz “is Joe Biden’s favorite Republican because he causes a lot of confusion and dissension inside the party itself,” fellow Florida Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez told Fox in an interview Sunday.
“If it weren’t for Matt Gaetz, we would have had a funding resolution that actually controlled the border and would have had close to 10 percent cuts in government,” he added. “But because of Matt Gaetz, we didn’t get either one of those.”
