McCarthy Spills Why He Thinks Matt Gaetz Ousted Him as House Speaker

Matt Vespa / Townhall Tipsheet

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has lost his job as House speaker. He’s still a member of Congress but won’t fight to get his leadership job back. He will let the gavel go to someone else after a motion to vacate passed 216-210 in the House on Tuesday. Eight Republicans colluded with Democrats to boot the California Republican out of the speaker’s office. The House GOP must find someone who can get 218 votes by next week. 

McCarthy addressed the media Tuesday evening after a meeting with the caucus where he declared he would be stepping back. He also spilled why he felt Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who filed the motion, would execute this ploy to remove him. To McCarthy, this had nothing to do with the stopgap measure passed on September 30, which averted a government shutdown. It was the ethics investigation into Mr. Gaetz (via NY Post):

"The longstanding feud between Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) goes back much farther than Tuesday’s historic vote to unseat McCarthy as House speaker.

Gaetz has long been McCarthy’s loudest opponent — dramatically voting “present” rather than backing the California Republican’s bid....Read more, see Xs and videos here.