McCarthy Ally Preps No-Confidence Vote To Get ‘Games Over With’

A Republican ally of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said he has prepared a no-confidence vote to end the “games” threatening the leader of the House.

Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) told CNN that he “perhaps” will bring forward his “motion to vacate” this week, a move that would dare McCarthy’s GOP detractors to vote on removing him from the speakership.

“I drafted a motion to vacate for the speaker,” Graves said, adding, “I’ve got it sitting on my desk right now.”

McCarthy’s top ally told me he has drafted a motion to oust him from the speakership simply to have a vote on it and get it off the table so critics will stop dangling it.
“Get your little games over with,” he said. https://t.co/aNxPznIi59

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The congressman added, “And I said, ‘Look, if you’re going to keep hanging this over (his) head and playing these games, let’s just do it now, let’s get it over with. Get your little games over with and then we’ll get back to the things that actually matter.’”

As Congress grapples with a battle on spending for federal agencies, which could result in a government shutdown at the end of the month if a deal is not reached, there has been some talk of challenging McCarthy’s role as speaker.

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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has said McCarthy could face a motion to vacate if he does not adhere to a “deal” made in January that allowed him to become speaker after 15 rounds of voting. The terms, according to Gaetz, included commitments on spending, term limits, and releasing the January 6 tapes.

Graves criticized GOP hardliners who have opposed a short-term spending measure to allow lawmakers more time to complete the appropriations process for the upcoming fiscal year.

“They’ve sort of created this quandary that we’re in right now, and it’s something that we have been trying to avoid now for months,” Graves also reportedly accused these members of going into “partnership” with Democrats to further their “personal agendas.”

Under the House rules package approved for this session of Congress, only a single member is needed to trigger the process that could lead to a no-confidence vote in the speaker. For such a vote to succeed, a simple majority is required, meaning Democrats could join with a few disaffected Republicans to secure McCarthy’s ouster.

McCarthy said last week that the “threats don’t matter” and vowed “to continue just to focus on what’s the right thing to do for the American people.”