House Republican conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) is confident that Republicans will “work through” the mounting tension between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and GOP members who are threatening to file a motion to vacate.
“Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream read to Stefanik a recent quote from Axios which described Republicans as having “fallen into a state of paralyzed chaos on their second day back from recess, with no obvious exit ramp in a government spending fight of their own creation.”
(Video: Fox News)
As BizPac Review reported, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has waged a war against McCarthy as the House attempts to avoid a looming government shutdown and reach a deal on funding.
McCarthy “tries to subjugate my critique of his failures as some sort of Ethics Committee reaction,” Gaetz wrote on X. “This is, of course, a pathetic lie.”
“A lie told by a man who 90% of the 23,000+ people who took this survey don’t trust,” he added, referring to his polling of X users on whether the House leader can be trusted to reduce spending.
Gaetz throws down gauntlet: ‘Critical mass of GOP lawmakers are with me, not Kevin ’ https://t.co/PUlH99dpeI via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) September 17, 2023
According to Huff Post, McCarthy told his Republican colleagues, “If you want to file a motion to vacate, then file the f**king motion!”
While Stefanik declined to comment on the reported F-bomb, she did say she’s optimistic and believes McCarthy will ultimately retain control of the gavel.
“I’m confident we will work through this,” she said. “And certainly the majority of members and I believe the Speaker will survive any type of motion.”
Bream noted that a new Fox News poll “puts congressional approval at 19%.”
“So you guys run the House now,” Bream said. “What do you tell the American people about the fact that we can’t even move a defense bill to fund our troops?”
“Well, we’re in a very good place,” Stefanik replied. “I’ve been engaged in conversation with members as well as Speaker McCarthy over the weekend. We are working through this, and I’m optimistic that we will continue to move the appropriations process forward.”
“And that includes the DOD appropriations bill,” she added. “That also includes potentially a continuing resolution to ensure that we do not face a government shutdown.”
“But what’s really important here, Shannon, is, on behalf of the American people, we know inflation is one of the top concerns,” Stefanik continued. “Ninety-one percent of the American people are concerned about inflation. We have to rein in this reckless, out-of-control spending that we’ve seen under the Biden administration.”
Stefanik expressed that she didn’t believe things would get to a motion to vacate.
“Because as I said, we are going through great productive conversations with our members,” she explained, “including from the House Freedom Caucus, as well as the Republican Study Committee and the broader Republican Conference to work through this appropriations process, but while also standing up for fiscal responsibility and being good stewards of taxpayer dollars and reining in this out-of-control spending.”
Meanwhile, the feud between Gaetz and McCarthy rages on.
In a Sunday interview with Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo, McCarthy railed against Gaetz for being “mad” about an ethics complaint that “happened in the last Congress.”
“Matt went to other members saying, ‘I’m going to try to influence Kevin to get involved in an ethics committee,” McCarthy said. “I can’t do it. It’s illegal.”
“It’s disappointing,” Gaetz wrote on X, “that Speaker McCarthy is spending one of his final Sundays as Speaker lying about me on Fox.”
It’s disappointing that @SpeakerMcCarthy is spending one of his final Sundays as Speaker lying about me on Fox. pic.twitter.com/6Gn6vh007A
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) September 17, 2023
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
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