A moment of truth has arrived for House Republicans, and it isn’t surprising that Matt Gaetz, the far-right Florida congressman and booster of former President Donald Trump, is the man behind it.
Gaetz, 41, said he’ll file a motion to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week after the Republican leader relied on Democrats to push through a stopgap spending bill and avert a government shutdown.
Gaetz won his House seat in 2016, the same year Trump was elected. Since then, the lawmaker has engaged in similar anti-establishment rhetoric and pushed often hyper-conservative policy views. Gaetz calls himself the “Trumpiest Congressman” and said last month he frequently talks with the former president. He’s also faced federal and House probes into sex trafficking allegations, which he has denied.
The highly public fight has again put Gaetz in the spotlight, giving the lawmaker a national platform even after probes from the Justice Department and House Ethics committee into sex trafficking allegations. The push to vacate McCarthy also comes amid rumors that Gaetz is weighing a run for Florida governor, though he denied reports. He told NBC News that his political focus is getting Trump elected for a second term in 2024.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, hasn’t indicated whether he’ll encourage his party to oust the speaker. “He’s more interested in securing TV interviews than doing something,” the California Republican said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” As a congressman, Gaetz has often pressed for conservative policies, including introducing a bill that mandated deportation of all undocumented immigrants at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. He has occasionally voted with Democrats on some matters, such as legalizing marijuana.
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