Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy said a House investigation could leave U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz without his current relevancy.
During an interview with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo, the California Republican unprompted added further fuel to his ongoing feud with Gaetz.
McCarthy became the first lawmaker ousted as U.S. Speaker of the House after Gaetz in October made a motion to vacate the leadership post. That set off a 22-day leadership fight in Congress, ultimately resulting in U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, becoming Speaker.
Bartiromo asked McCarthy about progress in the House since the transition, and the former Speaker suggested dissent within the GOP caucus continued to stall action.
“Unfortunately, we have a number of members doing the exact same thing they did before, stopping bills from moving forward,” McCarthy said. “We’re going to have to come together.”
Then he made clear he believes Gaetz continues to stall policy advancement. And he repeated an assertion that’s mostly to scuttle a House Ethics investigation into Gaetz’s personal sex scandal.
Gaetz, for his part, repeatedly said his motivation for ousting McCarthy stemmed from a refusal to advance individual appropriations bills and stand up to President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats on budget talks.
