House Democrats are already using Rep. Matt Gaetz‘s (R-FL) crusade to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as speaker to their advantage, with lawmakers coming out in droves to bash Republicans for their “civil war.”
Lawmakers voted 216-210 to remove McCarthy from his position after eight Republicans joined all Democrats in a historic rebuke to GOP leadership, leaving the House at a standstill until lawmakers can elect a new speaker. The vote comes after weeks of threats to McCarthy from members of his right flank — particularly Gaetz, who filed the motion to remove him on Monday evening.
THE RACE IS ON: WHO COULD REPLACE MCCARTHY AS SPEAKER?
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and other Democratic lawmakers have been quick to capitalize on the Republican infighting.
“House Democrats remain willing to find common ground on an enlightened path forward. Unfortunately, our extreme Republican colleagues have shown no willingness to do the same,” Jeffries said in an open letter to colleagues prior to the motion to vacate vote. “It is now the responsibility of the GOP members to end the House Republican civil war.”
Since then, several House Democrats have released statements or conducted interviews about the Republican infighting.
“Kevin McCarthy’s inability to govern meant we were lurching from one crisis to the next, instead of making progress on urgent issues like homelessness and inflation,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said on Tuesday night. “For the sake of the country, the GOP needs to get its act together, and if it can’t provide leadership, at least give us stability.”
Kevin McCarthy’s inability to govern meant we were lurching from one crisis to the next, instead of making progress on urgent issues like homelessness and inflation.
For the sake of the country, the GOP needs to get its act together and if it can’t provide leadership, at least… pic.twitter.com/ZTa2IoKNwq
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) October 4, 2023
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) echoed Jeffries in calling the motion to vacate the speakership a “sad and solemn day for democracy.
“GOP extremists are holding our nation’s government hostage, bringing chaos and dysfunction to the halls of Congress,” Wilson wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “It’s time for Republicans to clean up their mess and restore integrity to the People’s House.”
Today is a sad and solemn day for democracy. GOP extremists are holding our nation’s government hostage, bringing chaos and dysfunction to the halls of Congress.
It’s time for Republicans to clean up their mess and restore integrity to the People’s House.
— Rep. Frederica Wilson (@RepWilson) October 3, 2023
Gaetz’s digs at his fellow Republicans could also give Democrats and President Joe Biden some key soundbites that could be used in campaign tactics to undermine Republicans heading into 2024, where the House Republicans hold a slim majority.
During one hour of debate after the motion to table vacating the speakership failed, Gaetz took a hit at Biden’s age, poking at McCarthy’s concessions to Biden in the debt ceiling compromise and again to Democrats in the continuing resolution. The Florida representative made the motion to vacate after accusing McCarthy of making a “back deal” with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution over the weekend to fund the government temporarily, which he says is in direct violation of the speakership agreement brokered in January.
“It is going to be difficult for my Republican colleagues to keep calling President Biden feeble while he continues to take Speaker McCarthy’s lunch money in every negotiation,” Gaetz said.
The Florida representative also threw insults at the Republicans conducting investigations into Biden’s family, including his younger son Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. In a rare moment, he echoed House Democrats, calling the investigations “failure theater.
“It is difficult to champion oversight when House Republicans haven’t even sent a subpoena to Hunter Biden,” Gaetz said. “So it’s hard to make the argument that oversight is the reason to continue when it sort of looks like failure theater.”
Democrats have used Republican sound bites to make advertisements before. In July, Biden’s campaign ran an ad using a clip of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s (R-GA) speech to tout his administration’s accomplishments. The video uses comments that Greene made while delivering a speech at Turning Point USA blasting the Biden administration.
However, Biden’s team mixed the comments with uplifting music and added photos and videos of the president and Vice President Kamala Harris to give it the appearance of a campaign video, going viral instantly. It reached over 30 million views in 12 hours.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
On the other side, Republicans are using the motion to vacate as a chance to hit back at House Democrats for siding with Gaetz and the seven other Republicans, claiming it is a ploy to delay votes for appropriations bills.
“Extreme House Democrats are arsonists complaining about fire damage. As House Republicans continue to try to do the people’s work considering critical funding bills, House Democrats are using every dirty trick to try to delay, deflect, and destroy the institution,” National Republican Congressional Committee communications director Jack Pandol said in a statement.
