Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) sent a warning to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Tuesday, claiming the Republican leader “may not have a job long” if he tries to get in the way of an impeachment vote against President Joe Biden.
McCarthy has teased the possibility of opening an impeachment inquiry into the president over alleged foreign business dealings that took place while he was vice president, but Gaetz claimed the inquiry is not enough and actual votes for impeachment are necessary. McCarthy has faced resistance on the inquiry from centrist Republicans.
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“I worked very hard in January to develop a toolkit for House Republicans to use in a productive and positive way. I don’t believe we’ve used those tools as effectively as we should have,” Gaetz told conservative radio host Todd Starnes. “We’ve got to seize the initiative. That means forcing votes on impeachment. And if stands Speaker McCarthy in our way, he may not have the job long. Let’s hope he works with us, not against us.”
Gaetz’s “toolkit” refers to a deal the Floridian made with McCarthy to help him secure the speakership in January. The speaker vote took 15 rounds due to a holdout from far-right members of the House Freedom Caucus and Democrats who repeatedly voted for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). But the vote eventually went to McCarthy.
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In order to secure the necessary votes for his election, McCarthy agreed to lower the threshold for a motion to vacate the chair, which forces a vote on recalling the speaker, from five members to one.
Gaetz would not be the first member of Congress to force a vote on impeaching Biden. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) forced the House to vote on her articles of impeachment in June. Boebert’s impeachment articles focused on the president’s handling of the United States’s border crisis, but the party moved to refer her articles of impeachment to committees.
