With the clock ticking down toward a government shutdown, Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz approached a Democratic lawmaker on the House floor this week with a surprising pitch.
Gaetz, who has been threatening Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s speakership almost daily, explained that his rebellion is motivated by a desire to find new leadership that keeps their word, tells the truth, and adheres to regular order – a message that this Democrat described to CNN as “utterly reasonable.”
Gaetz then floated veteran Republican Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma and House GOP Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota as two alternative examples he had in mind, and then attempted to gauge whether this member would be open to supporting an effort to oust McCarthy. The Democrat told CNN there’s been internal discussions about a wide range of potential asks – from power-sharing agreements to policy ideas.
“In the last 48 hours, he’s not just talking to Democrats. I’m talking about like, the furthest left most progressive Democrats to moderates,” the House Democrat told CNN. “He’s a salesman right now.”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
With the clock ticking down toward a government shutdown, Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz approached a Democratic lawmaker on the House floor this week with a surprising pitch.
Gaetz, who has been threatening Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s speakership almost daily, explained that his rebellion is motivated by a desire to find new leadership that keeps their word, tells the truth, and adheres to regular order – a message that this Democrat described to CNN as “utterly reasonable.”
“There’s a number of us … that are prepared to take the next action we need to take,” said GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who is working with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to circumvent leadership if there is a stalemate in the House – a process known as a discharge petition.
The wheeling-and-dealing illustrates how Democrats are now caught in the crosshairs of the GOP’s ongoing civil war, which has catapulted Congress to the brink of a government shutdown.
For their part, Democratic leaders are counseling their members to avoid getting locked into a position over McCarthy’s speakership, not wanting to do anything proactively, knowing that a misstep could have major ramifications for the House and their party.
The speaker, they argue, has violated their trust by launching an impeachment inquiry and going back on an agreement he struck with the White House on spending levels.
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