McCarthy responds to Gaetz’s motion to vacate Speaker: ‘Bring it on’

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) fired back at Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) motion to force a vote on ousting him from the Speakership, writing “Bring it on” on social media just minutes after the motion was filed.

Gaetz responded to McCarthy in a post on X, writing, “Just did.”

Gaetz filed a motion to vacate McCarthy’s Speakership on Monday night, making good on his long-promised threat. The move is not much of a surprise after Gaetz told CNN a day earlier he intended to file the motion this week, which comes after McCarthy backed a measure to prevent a government shutdown over the weekend that won broad bipartisan support.

McCarthy has appeared confident in his ability to fight Gaetz’s efforts, telling reporters Monday morning that his support within the House GOP conference is “very strong.” On Sunday, McCarthy told CBS News he “will survive,” calling it something personal with the Florida lawmaker.

A motion to vacate the chair will have to take place within two legislative days, though it’s likely the House will first vote on a mechanism to kill or delay the motion instead of voting on the resolution itself.

The vote on Gaetz’s motion would only need a few Republicans if Democrats join the effort. The minority party would generally be expected to back such a motion, but it’s not clear what Democrats will do in this case. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Sunday said Democrats should not do anything for “free.”

When pressed Sunday over how many Republicans he has behind him, Gaetz said he has enough that the only way McCarthy would be Speaker in a week is if Democrats backed him up.

The Florida Republican vowed not to back any deals with Democrats to keep McCarthy as Speaker, telling CNN anchor Jake Tapper, “If Democrats want to own Kevin McCarthy by bailing him out, I can’t stop them, but then he’ll be their Speaker, not mine.”

Gaetz has long threatened to oust McCarthy. He opposed McCarthy during January’s Speakership vote, withholding support through 15 ballots.

After exhausting options to pass a GOP-only stopgap plan, McCarthy rushed Saturday to roll out a bipartisan continuing resolution (CR), provoking the ire of hard-line House Republicans, including Gaetz.  

The CR will fund the government at current spending levels through Nov. 17. The funding increases federal disaster assistance by $16 billion to meet the Biden administration’s previous request, but it does not include any funding for Ukraine, a White House priority largely opposed by several GOP members. 

The CR also lacks spending cuts or border policy changes, dealing a blow to hard-line conservatives who objected to any CR without such changes. 

Despite the continued pushback from some GOP members, the measure was cleared by the House in a largely bipartisan 335-91 vote Saturday, with one Democrat and 90 Republicans voting in opposition. The bill then overwhelmingly passed in the Senate in an 88-9 vote, with nine Republicans opposing the bill.

President Biden signed the bill Saturday to fund the government through Nov. 17, emphasizing Congress now has “plenty of time” to pass government funding bills.