In the USA, the conflict within the Republicans continues to escalate. The traditional conservative camp and the right-wing faction are fighting each other. Now a motion has been filed against Kevin McCarthy.
Bitter power struggle among US Republicans: Hardliner Matt Gaetz has filed a motion to remove the Republican chairman of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.
The Florida representative made a motion on Monday to declare the position of chairman of the House of Representatives “vacant”. In doing so, Gaetz is once again fueling a dispute that has been simmering within the party for some time between traditional conservative Republicans and the right-wing supporters of ex-President Donald Trump.
McCarthy “no longer has my support, and he does not have the support of a requisite number of Republicans to (…) move forward,” Gaetz later told reporters. McCarthy immediately responded to the news on the online service X, formerly known as Twitter. “Bring it on” wrote the Californian – in German it means “let’s go” or “go ahead”.
New conflicts within the Republicans: right wing vs. traditional conservative
McCarthy had previously agreed with the Democrats in the House of Representatives on a compromise to finance the US federal authorities until November 17th and did not implement the spending cuts demanded by the right-wing hardliners. Gaetz and a group of like-minded people fueled the budget crisis.
They are pushing for massive spending cuts and would have accepted the shutdown. They also oppose further support for Ukraine – in their opinion the money would be better used to combat illegal migration.
McCarthy’s position of power among Republican representatives has been shaky since his election at the beginning of the year. Despite a Republican majority in the House of Representatives achieved in the midterm elections in November 2022, the Californian was only elected chairman of the Congressional Chamber in the 15th attempt after a historic four-day voting marathon.
In return, he had to make concessions to Trump supporters, including the possibility of removing him as chairman of the House of Representatives by a vote.
Gaetz is now making use of this regulation. However, Gaetz rejects a personal vendetta against McCarthy. “It has nothing to do with a personality,” said Gaetz.
In the USA there have been repeated budget freezes in recent decades. The last occurred in December 2018 and January 2019 under then-President Donald Trump – and at 35 days was the longest in US history. The background at the time was the dispute over Trump’s desire to build a border wall with Mexico.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
