In the event that a resolution to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is presented to the House floor, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) declared this week that she is going to “absolutely” cast a vote in favor of it.
Ocasio-Cortez made the remarks during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” with presenter Jake Tapper, just after Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told the program that he will submit a petition to vacate against McCarthy this week. The Democratic lawmaker said McCarthy was bad at leading and that he waited too long to stop the government from shutting down.
“Do you believe that any Democrats will vote to keep McCarthy in office?” Tapper asked.
“I don’t think we give up votes for free, but I mean, I certainly do not believe that we would expect to see that unless there is a real conversation about what that would mean between the Republican and Democratic caucuses and Democrat and Republican leadership,” Ocasio-Cortez remarked.
“Would you, however, vote to vacate? Would you vote to fire McCarthy as speaker?” Tapper pressed.
“Would I vote for that? Of course. Of course. I am not a fan of Kevin McCarthy as a speaker; he has lost control of his caucus,” the Democrat from New York said.
The stopgap budget bill was passed with 126 Republican votes and 209 Democratic votes. Ocasio-Cortez then criticized McCarthy for waiting until the “last hour” to do so. When the 45-day extension for the bill ends in November, the nation will be “right back in this place,” she stated. This week, the government would’ve shut down if the House and Senate hadn’t sent the measure to President Biden.
The bill gives the United States $16 billion to help with crisis relief, but it doesn’t give Ukraine any extra money. That being said, McCarthy is reportedly expected to “advance a bill through the House floor to receive an up-or-down vote supporting Ukraine” when the House reconvenes, indicating that he may have struck a deal on the side with Democrat House leadership.
Gaetz said that McCarthy “lied” again by not telling Republicans about this fact until after the continuing measure was passed. Even more, Gaetz said that he would file a move to vacate the chair to get rid of the California Republican.
He said, “I do plan to file a motion for removal against Speaker McCarthy this week. I believe the Band-Aid should be taken off. I believe we need to find new leaders we can trust and move forward.
AOC on CNN says she'd "absolutely" vote to oust McCarthy as speaker pic.twitter.com/Cl2ECx99jt
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 1, 2023
Gaetz claimed McCarthy broke many of the promises he had made when running for the job. He said that McCarthy’s “agreement with Democrats to actually blow past many of the spending restrictions we set up” ended up being the “last straw.”
McCarthy was unfazed by Gaetz’s warning, stating, “Let’s get this over with. Let’s start running things. Maybe he’s mad that I stopped the government from shutting down when he tried to do so. Let’s talk about it.” It was also said by McCarthy that he would ultimately “survive” the vote and that Gaetz was “far more focused on securing TV interviews” than other important problems.
