The initial vote to vacate Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as House speaker will come Tuesday after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., first introduced the motion Monday night, Fox News Digital has learned.
Gaetz, a frequent McCarthy critic, introduced a motion to vacate on Monday. Tuesday’s vote will determine whether it advances to a committee vote.
The last time the House faced such a vote was in 1910 with Speaker Joe Cannon, R-Ill.
McCarthy can only stand to lose a handful of votes, prompting speculation that he could seek help from across the aisle. He told CNBC on Tuesday, however, that he won’t offer Democrats any deals in exchange for their votes on a motion to vacate his speakership.
‘They haven’t asked for anything, and I’m not going to provide anything,’ he said.
‘Are we now in a situation in our government that we just provided keeping government open, that we’re going to play politics with how you become speaker? If that’s the case, then I think we’ve got real problems,’ he said.
McCarthy said he refuses to put House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries ‘in any position at all, and I respect whatever decision anybody makes.’
McCarthy said Gaetz has had it out for him ‘from the very beginning.’
‘He’s been blaming me for an ethics complaint against him that happened in the last Congress I have nothing to do with,’ McCarthy said. ‘He wants me to try to wipe that away. I’m not going to do that. That’s illegal. And you know what? If some way I lose my job because I uphold the law, because I uphold the continuity of government, so be it.’
The House Ethics Committee has been investigating Gaetz since 2021 on allegations, including campaign finance violations as well as claims of taking bribes and using drugs – accusations the congressman has vehemently denied. Gaetz also denies allegations leaked from a Justice Department sex trafficking probe said to have involved an underage girl.
Fox News’ Daniel Wallace contributed to this report.
