‘Chaos doesn’t scare me,’ says Floridian reviled by colleagues for ousting Speaker Kevin McCarthy
WASHINGTON—With the Capitol in chaos and the speaker’s position going on its third week of vacancy, Rep. Matt Gaetz surveyed the consequences of his actions and declared he had no regrets.
“I have extreme confidence,” the Florida Republican said in an interview from his Capitol Hill office, “that we will have an upgrade at the position.”
The House has had no speaker since Gaetz made a motion to vacate the position, then joined on Oct. 3 with seven other Republicans and 208 Democrats to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) from the role. Rep. Jim Jordan, the archconservative Ohio Republican whom Gaetz calls a mentor, this week failed on three ballots to secure the majority of the body’s votes, losing support on each roll call and then bowing out of the race Friday afternoon. No one else seems to have a clear path to 217 GOP votes for the position.
Many of his colleagues blame Gaetz for the paralysis and acrimony that have ensued. When Gaetz rose to speak in a closed-door party meeting on Thursday, McCarthy told him to “sit your ass down,” and another Republican, Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois, cursed and lunged at Gaetz.
Asked about the encounter afterward, McCarthy told reporters, “Listen, the whole country, I think, would scream at Matt Gaetz right now.”
By Molly Ball
