Rep. Tim Burchett is considering supporting a possible effort to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy if McCarthy makes a deal with Democrats as a way out of this week’s impending government shutdown.
“That would be something I would look strongly at, ma’am, if we do away with our duty that we said we’re going to do,” Burchett (R-Tenn.) told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union” when asked if he would support removing McCarthy as speaker.
Burchett’s comments come as Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has used the shutdown as a launching pad to call for McCarthy’s removal as speaker. Overall, McCarthy has faced attacks from fellow Republicans accusing him of failing to lead his party, which holds a slim majority in the House, through the chaos.
The House last week failed to pass legislation to fund the government amid Republican infighting with hardliners who have promised to object to any stopgap measure. McCarthy wants to deliver a GOP opening bid to the Democratic Senate while also holding back a rebellion by far-right members of his party.
Next time you hear a Republican complain about partisanship choking Washington, tell them about this, about how Republicans won’t pass the most basic spending bill if they have to work with Democrats in order to do it. They will no doubt be surprised to learn about it.
They won’t believe it, they’ll just say it’s fake news and go on about Hunter Biden.
And not just any spending bill. All they need to do is pass a spending bill that aligns with the bipartisan budget priorities that were JUST agreed on during the debt ceiling debates.
The GOP is fucking clown shoes these days.
They won’t care. How can I say that authoritatively? Because, when Obama was president, McConnell said that no matter what legislation he proposed, they would vote against it because it was more important to make sure he was a one-term president than to pass any new legislation. It didn’t matter if it was something even Republicans wanted, they were going to obstruct it, and they used the filibuster way more than it had ever been used before to do it. Republicans didn’t care then, and they won’t care now.