After Kevin McCarthy caved and a bipartisan CR passed the House with 209 votes, Matt Gaetz tried to fire McCarthy with a motion to vacate, but the House recessed without recognizing him.
Here is what happened:
WOW….
BICE motioned to adjourn the House
Shortly before the gavel dropped, GAETZ tried to get the attention of WOMACK who was in the chair.
GAVEL DROPPED before Gaetz could be recognized.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) September 30, 2023
The resolution passed 335-91, with over 200 Democrats voting yes and 90 Republicans voting no. One Democrat, Rep. Mike Quigley, voted no only because he wanted the aid to Ukraine included in the bill.
The turnaround to buy Congress 45 more days to avoid a shutdown, which, by the way, the CR revives the tradition of Republicans potentially leading the nation into a government shutdown as the holiday season approaches.
The stripping of Ukraine aid out of the CR demonstrates how the Republican Party is now the Putin party, but the aid will likely be restored when the final yearly funding bills are passed, so the move was empty un-American symbolism.
Democrats supported the bill because it maintained the Biden/Schumer/Pelosi spending levels. The House bill that McCarthy got passed actually spends more money than the Senate bill.
The next big drama will be how soon Gaetz can move forward with his motion to vacate. Kevin McCarthy may have survived today, but the MAGAs are enraged, and they are going to try to get rid of McCarthy.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
