A group of hard-line U.S. Republican lawmakers announced on the 1st (local time) that they plan to submit a motion to dismiss House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a member of their own party, this week.
According to CNN and CNBC, Republican Representative Matt Gates of the U.S. House of Representatives announced at a conference with CNN on this day that he plans to submit a motion to dismiss House Speaker McCarthy.
The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed a 45-day interim budget plan the previous day, just three hours before the deadline for processing the 2024 fiscal year budget.
In the House of Representatives, Speaker McCarthy led the establishment of a budget bill with overwhelming support from the Democratic Party, defeating the arguments of hard-liners from the Republican Party.
Considering the response process surrounding the stopgap budget plan that avoided a federal government shutdown, Representative Gates said, “We need to move forward under new, trustworthy congressional leaders.”
Representative Gates, a member of the opposition Republican Party’s hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus, claimed, “I knew that Chairman McCarthy had colluded with the ruling Democratic Party” regarding additional aid to Ukraine, which he opposed.
Although the interim budget did not include support for Ukraine requested by the Joe Biden administration, there is a general view that Chairman McCarthy is likely to negotiate with Democratic Party leaders toward passing the budget.
“Nobody trusts Chairman McCarthy,” Gates said. “He lied to President Biden and he lied to conservatives in the House of Representatives.”
Last January, Republican hardliners, including Representative Gates, also opposed McCarthy’s inauguration as Chairman. During the 15th chairman election vote, Chairman McCarthy presented a concession plan to appease the opposition and greatly relaxed the requirements to allow even one member to vote for dismissal.
The current composition of the House of Representatives (435 members) has 221 seats for the Republican Party, which is the majority party, and 212 seats for the Democratic Party.
“The only way Speaker McCarthy can continue as Speaker of the House is if the Democratic Party bails him out,” Gates said. “That’s probably going to happen.”
Representative Gates predicted that there is a strong possibility that the Democratic Party will cooperate with Chairman McCarthy to prevent the dismissal motion from being passed.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.