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  • 10/3/2023
On the House floor, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) slammed Speaker McCarthy after getting his motion to vacate to proceed.
Transcript
00:00 The gentleman from Oklahoma's time is reserved.
00:02 Gentleman from Florida.
00:05 Mr. Speaker, my friend from Oklahoma says that my colleagues and I who don't support
00:09 Kevin McCarthy would plunge the House and the country into chaos.
00:15 Chaos is Speaker McCarthy.
00:18 Chaos is somebody who we cannot trust with their word.
00:23 The one thing that the White House, House Democrats, and many of us on the conservative
00:28 side of the Republican caucus would argue is that the thing we have in common, Kevin
00:34 McCarthy said something to all of us at one point or another that he didn't really mean
00:38 and never intended to live up to.
00:41 I don't think voting against Kevin McCarthy is chaos.
00:44 I think $33 trillion in debt is chaos.
00:48 I think that facing a $2.2 trillion annual deficit is chaos.
00:52 I think that not passing single-subject spending bills is chaos.
00:56 I think the fact that we have been governed in this country since the mid-90s by continuing
01:01 resolution and omnibus is chaos.
01:04 And the way to liberate ourselves from that is a series of reforms to this body that I
01:09 would hope would outlast Speaker McCarthy's time here, would outlast my time here, and
01:14 would outlast either of our majorities.
01:17 Reforms that I have heard some of the most conservative members of this body fight for,
01:22 and some of the reforms that we've been battling for that I've even heard those in the Democrat
01:27 caucus say would be worthy and helpful to the House, like open amendments, like understanding
01:33 what the budget is.
01:34 We have been out of compliance with budget laws for most of my life, most of many of
01:41 your lives.
01:42 And, by the way, if we did those things, if we had single-subject bills, if we had an
01:46 understanding on the top line, if we had open amendments, if we had trust and honesty and
01:51 understanding, there would be times when my conservative colleagues and I would lose,
01:56 might be a few times when we'd win.
01:58 There'd be times that we would form partnerships that might otherwise not be really predictable
02:04 in the American body politic, but the American people would see us legislating.
02:09 These last few days, we've suspended the momentum that we had established the week earlier,
02:15 where we were bringing bills to the floor, voting on them, staying late at night, working
02:20 hard, that's what the American people expect.
02:22 It's something Speaker McCarthy hasn't delivered, and that's why I've moved to vacate the chair.
02:26 I reserve.

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