Over 40 House Republicans have signed a letter condemning the eight Republicans who voted to remove California Representative Kevin McCarthy from the office of Speaker of the House on Tuesday.
The effort to remove McCarthy was spearheaded by Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, who was joined by fellow House Republicans Andy Biggs and Eli Crane of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Matt Rosendale of Montana.
The letter said Gaetz and the seven other Republicans “joined in alliance” with House Democrats adopting the Florida representative’s motion to vacate McCarthy as Speaker.
“That translates to less than 4 percent of our Republican Conference joining with all Democrats to override the will of the remaining 96 percent of House Republicans on one of the most consequential votes the House has taken in over a century,” the letter reads. “Worse still, just last Friday, seven of these eight individuals also joined with Democrats to defeat the most conservative funding and border security package in history.”
“Despite just a four-seat majority and both a Democrat-controlled Senate and White House, Speaker McCarthy has been one of the most accomplished Republican leaders in modern history,” the letter continued. “He has tirelessly worked with all factions of our Conference to restore regular order, decentralize decision making, reopen the People’s House, and achieve real results in a divided government on issues ranging from energy independence and combatting crime to cutting out-of-control spending and securing our border.”
A group of more than 40 concerned House Republicans penned a letter to their colleagues condemning the eight Republicans who joined Democrats to ous Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday and are calling for “fundamental changes” to the conference structure.
Read:https://t.co/yo9rIDmuZw pic.twitter.com/mPqqt7dNQh
— Reese Gorman (@reesejgorman) October 6, 2023
“Ashamed and embarrassed by what happened on the Floor this week, we refuse to allow the eight members who abandoned and undermined our Conference to dictate every outcome in policy and personnel for the remainder of this Congress, including the upcoming selection of the Speaker of the House,” they added.
The signatories affirmed their commitment to the objectives McCarthy outlined at the beginning of the 118th Congress.
“It is our responsibility to identify the right person at this moment to lead us into the future to achieve the conservative policy objectives that we and the American people all share,” they continued. “We cannot allow our majority to be dictated to by the alliance between the chaos caucus and the minority party that will do nothing more than guarantee the failure of our next Speaker.”
The letter concluded by referring to McCarthy’s ousting as an “injustice” that “cannot go unaddressed.”
“Our Conference must address fundamental changes to the structure of our majority to ensure success for the American people,” they wrote.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Ohio Representative Jim Jordan have officially declared their bid for Speakership. Oklahoma Representative Kevin Hern has reportedly expressed interest in seeking the seat while other House Republicans have nominated former President Donald Trump for Speaker of the House.
Trump has announced he may accept an interim stint as Speaker of the House for a few months, though officially endorsed Jordan for Speaker Thursday evening.
