House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday said his chamber would vote later in the day on a measure that aims to remove him from his post, adding that he expected to weather the action.
“I’m confident I’ll hold on,” the speaker told reporters.
But there were signs that his speakership was in peril, as House Democrats indicated they wouldn’t help him fend off the challenge that’s being led by a fellow Republican, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.
“We are following our leader, and we are not saving Kevin McCarthy,” said Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Gaetz late Monday filed what’s known as a “motion to vacate” after McCarthy relied on House Democrats to pass a short-term funding measure Saturday that averted a partial government shutdown.
In order to work, Gaetz’s motion to remove McCarthy as speaker needs the backing of a majority of the House, where Republicans have a slim edge. The Florida congressman said on Sunday that he expected Democrats were “going to bail out Kevin McCarthy,” meaning support him enough to offset the opposition from Gaetz and some other Republicans, but the vote on Tuesday afternoon may not play out that way.
There has been a view among analysts that a divided Washington’s spending might not change that much even if Gaetz manages to oust McCarthy, as MarketWatch has reported. About 80% of Congress looks likely to vote for a spending deal that would call for some increases in outlays, Ukraine aid, money for the U.S.-Mexico border and a new commission on the nation’s debt, said Chris Krueger, managing director at TD Cowen’s Washington Research Group, in a note. That agreement would come around when a new deadline of Nov. 17 hits.
A motion to vacate was filed in July 2015 against then-Speaker John Boehner and not voted on by the House at that time, but Boehner went on to announce his resignation in September 2015. Such a motion also was used unsuccessfully in 1910 against then-Speaker Joseph Cannon, and it was considered in 1997 but ultimately not used by a small group of House Republicans who had grown disgruntled with the leadership of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich.
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