NEW: A fired up Speaker McCarthy, addressing his conference behind closed doors, made clear to his members he is not afraid of his critics forcing a vote to oust him as speaker, according to three sources in the room.
“Move the fucking motion,” he said, according to the sources.
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) September 14, 2023
For context, this comes at a remarkably tense time inside the House GOP right now.
They can't pass spending bills.. A government shutdown looking more & more likely.. and hardliners are threatening votes to oust McCarthy & force up-or-down votes on impeachment.
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) September 14, 2023
[The threat of the motion to vacate is pointless. The caucus had this vote already, and the hardliners lost it. McCarthy’s apparently fine with calling their bluff and wants to see whether the hardliners really want to torpedo their control of the House just as their investigatory efforts are starting to produce real fruit. Congress has to pass a budget as part of its basic task of governance and the spending levels have already been agreed to. Stop playing games and get to work. — Ed]
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