Gaetz tries to push out McCarthy after deal averts shutdown

Rep Larry Buchson (R-IN) lashed out at Matt Gaetz (R-FL) for moving to oust Speaker McCarthy (R-CA).

“Matt Gaetz is a charlatan. He is threatening to remove Speaker McCarthy using at least 200 Democrat votes. He has been reaching out to them for votes! Is the hypocrisy lost on anyone? At least 200 House Rs will be voting to support the Speaker, including me,” he wrote on X.

House Republicans will seek to expel Rep Matt Gaetz (R-FL) if an ethics report finds him guilty, according to Fox News.

After Mr Gaetz said he would seek to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), one House Republican told Fox: “No one can stand him at this point. A smart guy without morals.”

The Independent reported in July that the House Ethics Committee has reportedly revived a probe into Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) regarding allegations of misconduct, as investigators have reportedly begun reaching out to witnesses.

A witness from Florida told CNN they spoke with investigators recently about alleged “lobbying violations.”

Other witnesses have also been contacted by the Ethics Committee, a source close to the matter told CNN.

The Ethics Committee investigation is a continuation of their 2021 probe into Mr Gaetz’s alleged “misconduct” while serving as a representative. It is unclear what misconduct the witnesses were interviewed for, though the initial probe regarded sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, misuse of state identification records and bribery.

Earlier this year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to charge Mr Gaetz after a sex trafficking investigation that was deferred to them by the Ethics Committee upon request.

On Sunday, Mr Biden was asked of he’s “concerned about America’s reputation on the world stage given the level of brinksmanship?” during the shutdown fight.

“Based on the MAGA Republicans part, yes. Based on what my administration is doing, no,” he said.

House Republicans seem eager to exact revenge against Matt Gaetz, the far-right lawmaker who served as the public face of a group of GOP holdouts who opposed their party’s attempts to avert a shutdown this past week.

News outlets including CNN and Fox reported on Sunday that Republicans in the lower chamber are looking towards the conclusion of a House Ethics Committee probe into the Republican congressman from Florida in the hopes that the probe’s findings could warrant (or excuse) his expulsion from the chamber.

Since 2021, the committee has been probing a range of allegations against Mr Gaetz, a top ally of Donald Trump. Those allegations including claims that he violated sex trafficking laws, accepted a bribe, and used campaign funds for personal use. The Florida Republican has consistently denied those claims, and a Justice Department investigation into the congressman’s sex trafficking allegations ended without charges in February.

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Democrats may well line up behind a resolution to remove Kevin McCarthy from the speakership as a group of House Republican insurgents launch such a bid in the coming days.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a prominent member of the Democratic caucus, spoke on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday and told Margaret Brennan that there were “absolutely” reasons to question Mr McCarthy’s ability to lead the chamber after a majority of his caucus voted against an emergency measure to fund the government for 45 days on Saturday.

“Speaker McCarthy has been very weak. I think he has also been engaged in just absolutely terrible decision-making for the American people,” she said, reprimanding him for “basic fiscal irresponsibility and recklessness.”

But she declined to specifically endorse a motion to vacate set to be filed by Matt Gaetz, a membert of the Republican holdout contingent that vowed to vote against any continuing resolution to keep the goverment from a costly shutdown.

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Appearing on CBS’s Face The Nation on Sunday, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said: “I wasn’t sure it was gonna pass. You know why? Because the Democrats tried to do everything they can not to let it pass.”

Anchor Margaret Brennan quickly fact-checked him, saying “Democrats were the ones who voted for this!”

Donald Trump has called for Rep Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) to be put in jail for pulling a fire alarm in the Capitol on Saturday.

The former president bizarrely claimed that Mr Bowman’s behaviour was worse than that of the rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“Will Congressman [Jamaal] Bowman be prosecuted and imprisoned for very dangerously pulling and setting off the main fire alarm system in order to stop a Congressional vote that was going on in D.C.,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.

“His egregious act is covered on tape, a horrible display of nerve and criminality. It was a very dangerous ‘Obstruction of an Official Proceeding,’ the same as used against our J-6 prisoners. Actually, his act may have been worse. HE MUST SUFFER THEIR SAME FATE. WHEN WILL HIS TRIAL BEGIN???” he added.

Mr Bowman admitted on Saturday that he pulled a fire alarm during a House vote but denied he did so to delay it.

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Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told CBS that a vote on Ukraine aid in the House won’t happen without proper funding for border security.

Mr Biden lambasted Republicans in a speech from the White House on Sunday, saying: “Folks, the truth is we shouldn’t be here in the first place. It is time to end governing by crisis, and keep your word when you give it.”

President Joe Biden said Sunday that American aid to Ukraine will keep flowing for now as he sought to reassure allies of continued U.S. financial support for the war effort. But time is running out, the president said in a warning to Congress.

“We cannot under any circumstances allow American for Ukraine to be interrupted,” Biden said in remarks from the Roosevelt Room after Congress voted late Saturday to avert a government shutdown by passing a short-term funding package that dropped assistance for Ukraine in the fight against Russia.

“We have time, not much time and there’s an overwhelming sense of urgency,” he said, noting that the funding bill lasts only until mid-November. Biden urged Congress to negotiate an aid package as soon as possible.

“The vast majority of both parties — Democrats and Republicans, Senate and House — support helping Ukraine and the brutal aggression that is being thrust upon them by Russia,” Biden said. “Stop playing games, get this done.’’