House conservatives struck back on Tuesday, seeking revenge against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy over allegations of surrendering during the debt ceiling crisis. The members of the House Freedom Caucus expressed their fury after McCarthy reached an agreement with President Joe Biden, which he signed into law on Saturday.
He really played his cards wrong. https://t.co/CB2xB7nMI6
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) June 7, 2023
Some caucus members believed that McCarthy had violated the power-sharing agreement made with conservatives when he assumed the speakership in January. Consequently, at least one member threatened to oust McCarthy as speaker.
Surprisingly, instead of initiating a motion to vacate the chair, House conservatives caught Republican leaders off guard by temporarily derailing legislation aimed at protecting gas stoves.
In a vote of 220-206, approximately a dozen House conservatives joined forces to block a resolution that would establish the rules for voting on the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act as well as the Save Our Stoves Act, despite their general support for the bills.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) declared, “Today, we took down the rule because we’re frustrated at the way this place is operating.” Gaetz added, “We took a stand in January to end the era of the imperial speakership,” expressing concerns that the core promises which allowed McCarthy to become Speaker were broken because of the debt limit agreement.
Moreover, Rep. Dan Bishop highlighted that House conservatives were determined to uphold the agreement made in January when Kevin McCarthy became Speaker. “We had an agreement that had been forged by all of us together, and it was utterly jettisoned unilaterally by the speaker.
And there’s been nothing so far to address the consequences of that,” he stated. Another critical factor fueling this revolt is the allegation that Republican leadership deliberately delayed a bill meant to reverse the Biden administration’s regulation of pistol braces to punish House conservatives for their vote against the debt ceiling bill.
While those implicated deny the accusation, McCarthy pledged to bring the bill to a vote the following week, according to co-sponsor, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.). Meanwhile, Bishop mentioned that the conservative caucus had not yet decided whether to initiate a motion to vacate in order to remove McCarthy from his position.
