Gaetz says most in GOP ‘don’t feel like we should negotiate with our hostage’

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said Tuesday that he and his conservative colleagues “don’t feel like we should negotiate with our hostage” on a debt-limit compromise.

In his comments, the Florida Republican underscored the precarious negotiating position House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is in as he seeks to strike a deal with the White House that could ultimately pass the House.

“My conservative colleagues for the most part support, ‘Limit, Save, Grow,’ and they don’t feel like we should negotiate with our hostage,” Gaetz told Semafor on Tuesday, doubling down on his support for the House-passed GOP bill that would cut spending by an average of 18 percent in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. 

Hard-line conservatives have made clear they would oppose any deal that does not extract major concessions from President Biden, making the task of striking a deal with enough broad support even more difficult. At the same time, McCarthy must still consider the constant threat that any member of his conference could call for a motion to vacate at any time — a reality Gaetz acknowledged in his comments to Semafor.

“I believe the one-person motion to vacate has given us the best version of Speaker McCarthy, and I think he’s doing a good job,” Gaetz said Tuesday, touting the provision that he helped secure in exchange for his eventual support of McCarthy’s speakership bid in January. 

Gaetz made clear, however, that while the motion to vacate has bolstered his own leverage in negotiations, there are no ongoing discussions in the conference about ousting McCarthy from his post.

“Literally nobody except the press is talking about removing McCarthy right now,” Gaetz wrote on Twitter, adding in a statement to the Washington Examiner that he has “no plans” to try to remove McCarthy. 

Negotiations on a debt ceiling agreement have continued to seesaw in recent days as the Treasury Department’s deadline of June 1 — which some conservatives have questioned — rapidly approaches and McCarthy and Biden have yet to strike a deal.