Neighboring Rep Matt Gaetz blows up the Speaker seat - conservative leaders step up

October 05, 2023

by Janet Pattison

BAY COUNTY - Rep Matt Gaetz was scheduled to speak at an event in Panama City Beach on October 3rd hosted by the Bay County GOP. It was postponed by the Representative who had to stay in Washington DC.

According to the House Freedom Caucus Facebook page, on September 28, 2023, the House Freedom Caucus made urgent requests of Speaker McCarthy to reduce spending and stay in session until the 12 individual regular appropriations bills are passed. On the night of September 30th, a "stop gap" was passed continuing spending at current levels until November. It did not include funding for the southern border but it also did not include additional funding for Ukraine.
Due to the failure of Speaker McCarthy to meet his earlier promises and the urgent requests made on Sept 28th, on October 3rd Rep Gaetz called for the removal of Speaker McCarthy. This came with great criticism from Congress and political pundits. One of the major criticisms was there was no stated plan in place to replace the Speaker and the government would be in chaos.

When the Speaker was removed, the Speaker Pro Tempore Rep Patrick McHenry, took Rep McCarthy's place to keep the House of Representatives operating until a new Speaker is voted on. This did not appear to be a planned event. He posted on X on Oct 3rd: 🚨 #ICYMI @FinancialCmte advanced legislation to protect our farmlands from adversaries, like China. Defending our farmlands is vital to our national security and I will continue the fight to stop them from being purchased by the #CCP.

https://x.com/PatrickMcHenry/status/1709261220673466733?s=20
Politico reported that Rep Patrick McHenry's first action was to remove Senator Nancy Pelosi from the House of Representatives Speaker's office space. She did not vacate the offices when Rep McCarthy was named Speaker of the House in January. According to Matt Gaetz's X feed the Speaker Pro Tempore recessed Congress for a week.

Also immediately, Rep Jim Jordan, Rep Steve Scalese and Rep Kevin Hern all put in bids for the Speaker of the House position, according to multiple news sources.