'I've Had It!' Matt Gaetz Goes Off While Speaking to Media on Kevin McCarthy Ousting
GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who led the effort to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, offered multiple reasons why he felt McCarthy needed to go.
In an exchange with reporters on Monday night before the historic vote to remove McCarthy, Gaetz said the die was cast following his motion to vacate the chair.
The Florida congressman accused McCarthy of breaking multiple House rules he had agreed to when he became speaker in January.
The most recent instances came when McCarthy partnered with Democrats to push through a continuing resolution that averted a federal shutdown by funding the government through the middle of November.
A majority of the Republican caucus, 126 members, voted for the continuing resolution on Saturday, though 90 did not. Meanwhile, 209 Democrats voted for the measure. In other words, it passed with majority Democratic support.
Approximately 217 members are needed to pass legislation, depending on who is present.
Gaetz said that McCarthy violated the 72-hour rule regarding reviewing proposed legislation before a vote, and he also suspended a rule that would have allowed members to offer amendments to the CR.
“So he seems to be reverting to the very unfortunate muscle memory of Washington, D.C., that has put our nation atop a $33 trillion debt, that has led to $2 trillion annual deficits in our near future and the rapid global de-dollarization of the economy,” Gaetz said.
I don’t feel pressure from conservatives or Democrats. I feel the judgment of history. I worry that when the history books are written about this country going down, that my name is going to be on the Board of Directors here.
If this country is going down, I am going down… pic.twitter.com/9bFWtOoAJ2
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) October 3, 2023
“You look at the BRICS system — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa — they’re moving away from the dollar. And just in August they added six new countries, including G20 economies in the Western Hemisphere and [Persian] Gulf monarchies,” he added.
Gaetz cited a September U.S. News & World Report article saying that a top economic trend of 2023 is global de-dollarization.
The article outlined several negative consequences for the U.S. economy if the dollar is no longer the world’s reserve currency in which trade is conducted.
One would be more inflation as the value of the dollar decreases, perhaps precipitously. The Federal Reserve would then likely have to increase interest rates to combat inflation and retain the dollar’s value.
“I feel the judgment of history,” Gaetz continued. “I feel the weight of that. I worry that when the history books are written about this country going down, that my name is going to be on the board of directors here.
“And if this country is going down, and if we’re losing the dollar, I am going down fighting. And I don’t care if that means fighting Republicans, Democrats, the uni-party, the leadership, the PACs, the lobbyists — I’ve had it!” Gaetz said.
He voiced frustration that Congress has not passed separate appropriations bills using regular order since he was elected in 2016.
“I’ve been here seven years. We don’t have a f***ing budget,” he said. “We haven’t had one since the mid-’90s. I am through with it.”
“The only path forward here is to have single-subject spending bills that can be reviewed, amended, considered. And I think that is the responsible way that our legislatures all over this country operate, for good reason,” the congressman said.
Gaetz, along with seven other Republicans, joined all the House Democrats to remove McCarthy as speaker on Tuesday. The final vote was 216-210.
Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina pointed to McCarthy’s failure to keep his word regarding the appropriations process as a reason she voted to remove him.
“No budget, no separate spending bills until it was too late, a CR which takes spending power out of the hands of the people and puts all the power into the hands of a select few. There has also been no action on many issues we care about and were promised,” she posted on X.
No budget, no separate spending bills until it was too late, a CR which takes spending power out of the hands of the people and puts all the power into the hands of a select few. There has also been no action on many issues we care about and were promised.
(3/7)— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) October 3, 2023
Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee said prior to the vote that despite being a friend of McCarthy, he would have to follow his conscience and vote to remove him.
“My conscience tells me that we’re $33 trillion in debt,” Burchett explained. “We took off the whole month of August knowing that September was going to come around. It does every year, the end of our budgetary year, fiscal year, and there’s no urgency.”
“At some point, we’ve just got to say, ‘Enough is enough,’ folks. I hate losing Kevin as a friend, but I worry about losing our country, in all sincerity,” the congressman continued. “We are rapidly approaching that point.”
McCarthy said after being ousted that he took a risk by passing the CR to keep the government open with majority Democratic support, but he felt it was for the good of the country.
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