Matt Gaetz put Speaker Kevin McCarthy on notice today demanding he follow through on promises made when he got the top job in the House or face removal. Matt said:
“On this very floor in January, the whole world witnessed a historic contest for House Speaker. I rise today to serve notice, Mr. Speaker, you are out of compliance with the agreement that allowed you to assume this role.
“The path forward for the House of Representatives is to either bring you into immediate total compliance or remove you pursuant to a motion to vacate the chair. We have had no vote on term limits or on balanced budgets as the agreement demanded and required.
“There’s been no full release of the January 6 tapes as you promised. There has been insufficient accountability for the Biden crime family, and instead of cutting spending to raise the debt limit, you relied on budgetary gimmicks and recisions, so that you ultimately ended up serving as the valet to underwrite Biden’s debt and advance his spending agenda.
“Mr. Speaker, you boasted in January that we would use the power of the subpoena and the power of the purse.
“But here we are 8 months later, and we haven’t even sent the first subpoena to Hunter Biden. That’s how you know that the rushed and somewhat rattled performance you just saw from the speaker isn’t real.
“At this point, during Democrat control over the House of Representatives, they had already brought in Don Jr three times, and we haven’t even sent the first subpoena to Hunter Biden.
“Power of the subpoena and power of the purse – the only thing the 118th Congress is known for at this point is electing Kevin McCarthy as speaker and underwriting Biden’s debt. Unfortunately, there’s only one of those things we can remediate at this time – power of the purse.
“Our leadership right now is asking us to vote for a continuing resolution.
“A vote for a continuing resolution is a vote to continue the Green New Deal, a vote to continue inflationary spending, and in the most troubling of fashions, a vote for a continuing resolution is a vote to continue the election interference of Jack Smith.
“Mr. Speaker, we told you how to use the power of the purse – individual single subject spending bills that would allow us to have specific review, programmatic analysis, and it would allow us to zero out the salaries of the bureaucrats who have broken bad, targeted President Trump, or cut sweetheart deals for Hunter Biden.
“September 30th is rapidly approaching, and you have not put us in a position to succeed. There is no way to pass all the individual Appropriations bills now, and it’s not like we didn’t know when September 30th was going to show up on the calendar.
“I must be better; you must be better, and this house must be better, for it is the last best hope for tens of millions of Republicans.
“We demand real oversight against this weaponized government. Just look at the bribery – if tens of millions of dollars flowing from Foreign Corrupt people into the bank accounts of the Biden family wasn’t enough for actual impeachment, why were we even looking?
“Joe Biden deserves impeachment for converting the vice presidency into an ATM machine for virtually his entire family. We all see it; we all know it.
“Now, moments ago, Speaker McCarthy endorsed an impeachment inquiry. This is a baby step following weeks of pressure from house conservatives to do more. We must move faster.
“Now, I will concede that the votes I have called for will likely fail – term limits, balanced budgets, maybe even impeachment. I am prepared for that eventuality because at least if we take votes, the American people get to see who’s fighting for them and who’s willing to tolerate more corruption and business as usual.
“Mr. Speaker, dust off our written January agreement; you have a copy. Reflect on the spirit of that agreement and build on the start that we had.
“Moments ago began to comply – no continuing resolutions, individual spending bills or bust, votes on balanced budgets and term limits, subpoenas for Hunter Biden and the members of the Biden family who’ve been grifting off of this country, and the impeachment for Joe Biden that he so richly deserves.
“Do these things or face a motion to vacate the chair. And let me alert the country – a motion to vacate might not pass at first, but it might before the 15 vote. And if Democrats bail out McCarthy as they may do, then I will lead the resistance to this uniparty and the Biden-McCarthy-Jeff government that they are attempting to build.
“I know that Washington isn’t a town where people are known for keeping their word. Well, Speaker McCarthy, I’m here to hold you to yours. I yield back.”
