Internal battle flares up among American Republicans: new threat of a ‘shutdown’ | Abroad

Adoption of Gaetz’s high-profile motion to impeach House Speaker McCarthy, which must be voted on by Wednesday, would be unprecedented in American politics: in the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives has never before been removed by his own party . Gaetz is considered a hardliner and Trump friend within the Republican Party. He leads the group that remains angry over a compromise McCarthy made with Democrats on Saturday to avoid a government shutdown.

The threat of such ‘shutdown‘ hangs in the air every year between bickering Democrats and Republicans and would mean that some government institutions would come to a standstill and some civil servants would no longer be paid. Such a closure could hit the economy hard, as it would also delay important government programs for businesses, as well as major infrastructure projects. To prevent all that, McCarthy ultimately met specific budget wishes of the Democrats. They are strongly opposed to reducing military and financial support to Ukraine. That money – according to Trump, Gaetz and kindred spirits – could be better spent on combating illegal immigration.

Gaetz went wild against fellow party member McCarthy on Monday evening. The representative from Florida said he had consulted with former President Donald Trump about this. Regardless of all the political arguments about state spending, it is an open secret that Gaetz and McCarthy absolutely hate each other. Their dispute dates back to 2021, when Gaetz was suspected of having sex with a minor. He himself was ultimately not prosecuted, but his ‘right-hand man’ Joel Greenberg was jailed for eleven years. Gaetz still believes that McCarthy did not sufficiently support him in that high-profile case.

In January, Gaetz was among a group of Republicans who voted against McCarthy’s nomination as House Speaker more than a dozen times. The Republicans had won a majority in the House in the midterm elections and were therefore allowed to provide the chairman of the House of Representatives. It took fifteen rounds of voting to get the most radical Republicans behind McCarthy.

It is unclear whether the brand new motion to impeach McCarthy has a chance of success. That may require support from Democrats. Republicans have only a few more votes than Democrats in the House. It is possible that the latter will demand in return that Republicans stop magnifying all the accusations against Hunter Biden, the president’s son.

For Trump that would be unmentionable. Gaetz now accuses McCarthy of, among other things, reaching a “secret agreement” with President Biden on a possible budget for Ukraine, amid budget negotiations.

The former president has informed insiders that he is keeping aloof from the matter for the time being, which does mean that he does not explicitly support McCarthy. Trump would be too busy with the lawsuits against him. “Trump may still need McCarthy, but he won’t drop him yet,” an insider told the website ‘Politico’. In the squabble over the budget, Trump was clearly on Gaetz’s side with a typical Trump cry on social media: ‘SHUT IT DOWN’.

Allies of McCarthy hope some Democrats will prevent his impeachment to avoid a protracted battle for the presidency. McCarthy’s impeachment could still lead to a… shutdown.