Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz appeared on Newsmax’s “Wake Up America” and made a clear statement as to why he will not seek the speakership position.
“Well, mostly because I would not have the requisite support,” Gaetz stated.
“I don’t have anywhere near the votes it would take to be speaker of the House.”
.@SpeakerMcCarthy purposefully backed us up against the wall on spending bills and then sent everyone home at 3pm on a Thursday.
This is not the French work week.
We’re going to have to address his leadership after we get through this government funding crisis. pic.twitter.com/cxHLd4BePc
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) September 22, 2023
Rob Finnerty observed the “mini-rebellion” that took place prior to and throughout Kevin McCarthy’s time as Speaker.
“We got to try something different, because we’ve had eight months of failure theater,” Gaetz added regarding his disapproval of McCarthy.
Congressman Gaetz has publicly expressed his dissent with Speaker McCarthy for not taking action on a number of issues.
He has been notably critical of the speaker’s refusal to hold votes on term limits, not releasing all surveillance video pertaining to the Capitol incursion of January 6th 2021, and not holding President Joe Biden’s family accountable for any criminal activity they may have been involved in.
“I rise today to serve notice — Mr. Speaker, you are out of compliance with the agreement that allowed you to assume this role,” Gaetz stated at the time.
Gaetz has denied any interest in becoming the next Speaker of the House, but he was asked if he might have ambitions to run for Governor of Florida and eventually for President.
“This is ridiculous, OK. We have a job to do right now,” Gaetz stated.
“Every politician’s always worried about the next thing to run for. I have no plans to run for governor, I’m not making any plans to run for governor,” he noted.
“I have plans to try to get the House of Representatives, where I currently work, to do what it has not done since 1997, and that is actually abide by the appropriations process, pass single-subject spending bills, get votes on term limits and balanced budgets.
“I don’t know if we’re gonna have a country in 2026 if we don’t do these things right now,” he added, “because the world is de-dollarizing [and] we’re facing [a] $2 trillion annual deficit.”
Congressman Gaetz has asserted his focus remains on the work ahead in Congress, dismissing speculation of plans to run for other offices as a “distraction” and “noise.” As the looming potential government shutdown on September 30th draws near, Gaetz called out McCarthy by posting a Newsmax clip to X, formerly known as Twitter.
“[McCarthy] purposefully backed us up against the wall on spending bills and then sent everyone home at 3 pm on a Thursday,” he posted.
“This is not the French work week.
“We’re going to have to address his leadership after we get through this government funding crisis,” he concluded.
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