Kevin McCarthy Blames Matt Gaetz For Republicans Abandoning Their Voters And Resigning Early

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) claimed that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is responsible for the current state of the Republican House majority, which currently sits at just one vote after McCarthy and a number of other members resigned before finishing out their terms.

Fox News host Jesse Watters asked McCarthy about the recent spending bill and growing discontent among Republican voters. “Kevin what is going on with the spending and what just happened with Johnson?” Watters asked.

“I don’t know what they’re doing spending now, but when I became Speaker, I instituted a 72-hour rule that got not just the members the opportunity to read the bill, but America as well,” McCarthy answered. “You’d never waive it unless it’s a Continuing Resolution, something you’re already doing so people would know. I think it’s always helpful to allow people to read the bill, allow America to read the bill. And really, this comes down to what’s happening in Congress today. It goes back to when those eight Republicans led by Gaetz partnered with every single Democrat to decide who could be Speaker. That’s when Republicans lost the majority.”

The Republican majority fell to just one vote earlier this week when Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) abruptly resigned. Gallagher — who voted against the impeachment of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and referred to the January 6 protests as a “terrorist attack” — had previously announced his retirement but was expected to finish out his term.

His abrupt exit follows that of Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), who officially left Congress on Friday, and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH), both of whom left their seats vacant. The trend was started by McCarthy himself, who resigned at the end of the year.

All three seats will be filled in special elections prior to November, though Gallagher’s district will remain open.

“Jesse, remember what we were able to do in a small majority of the first nine months?” McCarthy told Watters.

“We cut $20 billion of that from the IRS that was going to hire to go after us, very successful and you work together with a small majority, and all those bills had 72 hours to read them because people could get behind them,” the former speaker went on to say.