House Speaker Kevin McCarthy issued a profane challenge to those Republican members of the House of Representatives threatening to oust him from the speakership during a closed party conference Thursday morning. While the private House GOP meeting was supposed to cover the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, the California Republican had government funding — and frustrations with his colleagues — freshly on his mind.
"Yeah, I don't understand how members, they have no complaint about the DoD bill. But they don't want to pass it. I got a small group of members who don't want to vote for CR, don't want to vote for individual bills and don't want to vote for an Omni," McCarthy told Punchbowl News when asked about federal funding on the way in, referring to the Department of Defense, a continuing resolution and an omnibus spending bill, respectively. "I'm not quite sure what they want."
The subject of the meeting seemed to take a sharp turn as the California Republican took aim at his critics and asserted that he is not afraid of them forcing a vote to have him removed.
"Go ahead. I'm not f—king scared of it. Any new speaker will do what I'm doing," one of those legislators told Politico of what they recalled the Speaker saying. "If you think you scare me because you want to file a motion to vacate, move the f—ing motion," McCarthy may have actually told his opponents, according to two other anonymous Republican lawmakers interviewed by the outlet.
Another source in room says this is the correct quote: “If you think you scare me because you want to file a motion to vacate, move the fucking motion” https://t.co/Qgw4n1JQCe
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) September 14, 2023
