Matt Gaetz, a loyal supporter of Mr. Trump, has become the first US congressman to do something unprecedented in history by overthrowing a Speaker of the House.
Gaetz, 41, proposed the removal of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and on October 3, the US House of Representatives voted to pass the motion, causing McCarthy to lose his position after only 9 months in power.
In fact, Gaetz got help, with several Republicans joining him and all House Democrats choosing to strip McCarthy of his leadership.
Still, Gaetz has clearly been leading the effort against McCarthy, establishing himself as an influential force in the House, despite complaints from many Republicans.
Matt Gaetz surrounded by reporters at Capitol Hill, Washington, USA, October 2. Photo: Reuters
Matt Gaetz was born on May 7, 1982, in Hollywood, Florida, and grew up in the northwest of the state. He is the son of Don Gaetz, a prominent politician who served as a member of the Florida State Senate from 2006 to 2016 and as president of the state Senate from 2012 to 2014.
Gaetz, a lawyer, first ran for and won a seat in the Florida House of Representatives in 2010 after former state Rep. Ray Sansom resigned amid corruption allegations.
Gaetz served in the state House of Representatives until 2016. He initially backed former Florida governor Jeb Bush for president but eventually became an enthusiastic supporter of Donald Trump.
Gaetz has been a member of the US Congress since 2017. Gaetz presents himself as a hard-line Republican, although he sometimes goes against the party's traditional views.
Gaetz has defended the 2020 election as rigged and said former President Trump should have won the White House. Gaetz is also a close ally of hard-line Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, but the two have opposing views on McCarthy.
Gaetz supports impeaching President Joe Biden over allegations that he helped direct and profit from his son's business while he was vice president, although Republicans have not presented evidence of this.
Still, Gaetz rejects traditional conservative views on issues like marijuana. He supports removing marijuana from the list of controlled substances.
Gaetz sparked controversy in 2021 after it was reported that federal investigators were looking into a 2018 trip he took to the Bahamas, where he allegedly had sex with prostitutes, including a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing, insisting he never paid for sex or had any physical contact with a minor.
After a year-long investigation, the Justice Department informed Gaetz in February that it would not bring charges against him.
Much of Gaetz's time in the House was marked by a poor relationship with McCarthy, although Gaetz insisted the effort to remove McCarthy was not personal.
It’s unclear exactly where the feud began, but McCarthy has speculated that Gaetz may blame him for the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into alleged prostitution violations. The investigation began in 2021 when Democrats controlled the House, but was reopened this past July when Republicans took control.
The feud between the two erupted earlier this year when Gaetz led efforts to block McCarthy from taking the role of House Speaker, forcing McCarthy through an unprecedented 15 rounds of votes.
During that confrontation, Gaetz made a series of statements criticizing McCarthy, accusing him of "selling out for more than a decade." Ultimately, McCarthy was forced to compromise with Gaetz to win the seat.
One of the things Gaetz asked for was to change the rules so that any lawmaker could petition to remove the Speaker. The previous rule required a party-line vote on the impeachment motion. Once it was supported by a majority of the party, it could be voted on in the full House. The new rule was key to McCarthy's loss of office.
McCarthy repeatedly criticized Gaetz last month after it was reported that Gaetz would file a motion to remove him from office. "Gaetz blamed me for the ethics complaints against him in the last Congress," McCarthy said. "I had nothing to do with that."
"He wanted me to try to wipe it all out. I didn't do that, that's illegal," he added. "You know what? If somehow I lose my job for supporting the rule of law and the continuity of government, then so be it."
Relations between the two men hit a new low after the US House of Representatives voted to pass a bill to fund the government for another 45 days, helping the US government avoid the risk of a shutdown after midnight on September 30.
The bill does not include the deep spending cuts and border policies that Gaetz and the far right have demanded. Gaetz also accused McCarthy of misleading Republicans, concealing from them the fact that he had reached a "secret agreement" with Democrats to not include Ukraine aid in the bill and to introduce a bill on the issue later. Gaetz, meanwhile, wanted the Ukraine aid removed entirely, and the money used to combat illegal immigration instead.
Gaetz's proposal to remove the House Speaker has garnered him attention but also criticism, with some Republicans saying the move was motivated by a desire for attention.
"Gaetz is truly a divisive member of the party, causing a lot of damage with his thoughts and comments," commented Republican Senator Tim Scott.
“If Gaetz were just a loudmouth, stopping at attacking McCarthy every day, that would be fine,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote in an op-ed titled “Republicans Must Get Rid of Matt Gaetz.” “But he’s gone too far. He’s destroying the ability of Republicans to govern in the House.”
Vu Hoang (According to ABC News )
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