Tipsheet

Democrats Manage to Make Ousting McCarthy All About Them

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 03, 2023 7:30 PM

Earlier on Tuesday, the House made history by voting to oust Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House as a result of taking up Rep. Matt Gaetz's motion to vacate the chair. Democrats responded by making it about themselves, taking the opportunity in the midst of a Republican civil war to pat themselves on the back. This included a statement that White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

"President Biden has demonstrated that he is always eager to work with both parties in Congress in good faith on behalf of the American people," the statement started off by claiming, despite how President Joe Biden frequently demonizes his political opponents. Jean-Pierre herself was found to be in violation of the Hatch Act for smearing Republicans as "Mega MAGA Republicans." 

"Because the urgent challenges facing our nation will not wait, he hopes the House will quickly elect a Speaker. The American people deserve leadership that puts the issues affecting their lives front and center, as President Biden did today with more historic action to lower prescription drug prices. Once the House has met their responsibility to elect a Speaker, he looks forward to working together with them and with the Senate to address the American peoples’ priorities," the statement continued.

As was the case with both the debt ceiling and now the continuing resolution (CR) that passed on Saturday to fund the government for 45-days, Biden dropped very much dropped the ball in working with McCarthy when he was the speaker. 

During last Friday's White House press briefing, at which point a government shutdown seemed imminent, Jean-Pierre couldn't or wouldn't speak to Biden's ability to meet with the then speaker to avoid a government shutdown.

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Then, during Monday and Tuesday's briefings, Jean-Pierre continued to cause confusion about whether or not Biden and McCarthy had made a deal about funding for the southern border and for Ukraine. 

During Tuesday's press briefing especially she failed to provide clarity. "Look, I’m not going to go into depth.  What I’m--I’m going to let the--the president’s word stand and I’m not going to elaborate on it," she unhelpfully said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) also released a statement, albeit a brief one, about the vote to vacate the chair resulting in the ousting of McCarthy.

"This is a solemn moment for the country and for the House of Representatives. The Constitution gifted us a government of the people, by the people and for the people. House Democrats will continue to put people over politics and work together in a bipartisan way to make life better for everyday Americans. It is our hope that traditional Republicans will walk away from MAGA extremism and join us in partnership for the good of the country," the statement read, using that insult for his Republican opponents that Jeffries and other Democratic leaders so often use.

It's also worth noting that those who are evidently part of the "MAGA extremism" were the ones who voted to oust McCarthy, just as every single Democrat did, under Jeffries' order.

This statement came after Jeffries had already issued a previous "Dear Colleague" letter refusing to help McCarthy remain speaker and having made other posts to X. Jeffries, as Katie covered earlier, had told his caucus that they would not be voting to save McCarthy's speakership, a move made official before the vote.

Jeffries' directive came even as Republican colleagues in the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus made a last-minute appeal to Democratic members. As a result, Republican members are reportedly considering leaving "en masse."