Republican lawmaker launches bid to oust US House Speaker McCarthy over govt shutdown compromise

Far-right Republican lawmaker Matt Gaetz launched a bid on Monday (Oct 2) to oust United States House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his post. According to a report by the news agency AFP, Gaetz entered his resolution from the House floor "declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant." This development has reignited an intra-party battle between traditional conservatives and firebrand supporters of former president Donald Trump.

The resolution, a rare manoeuvre that requires a simple majority to pass, could force a vote within days and comes after McCarthy brokered a last-gasp budget deal with Democrats over the weekend temporarily avoiding a government shutdown.

Gaetz has been a leading figure within a small group of far-right Republican legislators who brought the government to the brink of shutdown with their refusal to adopt fresh federal funding without deep spending cuts. The hardliners hold a de facto veto over legislation in the House.

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'Only way McCarthy is House Speaker if...': Gaetz

Following the chamber passing a last-minute measure on Saturday to extend funding, Gaetz said he would move to oust McCarthy from the House Speaker's position.

Speaking to CNN on Sunday, the lawmaker said he believed he had enough Republican support to oust McCarthy. "The only way Kevin McCarthy is speaker of the House at the end of this coming week is if Democrats bail him out," Gaetz added.

Bring it on: McCarthy

Responding to Gaetz's remarks, McCarthy said on X, "Bring it on." In January, McCarthy had made concessions to the far-right bloc in return for their support in his quest to gain the speaker's gavel.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, Gaetz said that McCarthy did not have "my support anymore, and he doesn't have the support of a requisite number of Republicans to continue as the Republican Speaker."

The resolution throws up fresh obstacles as lawmakers race to cut a new deal on funding for the federal government. It came as millions of public workers looked set to be sent home unpaid, upending government functions from military operations to food aid to federal policymaking.

President Joe Biden has lambasted both McCarthy and the hardliners for failing to live up to an agreement forged around a debt crisis months ago that was meant to avoid a damaging shutdown fight.

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