Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Tuesday that he doesn't "buy the argument" that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is "working with the Democrats" when his opponents will be voting with Democrats to oust him.
The House will vote Tuesday on a leadership challenge to McCarthy by a fellow Republican that could plunge Congress into chaos.
Republican lawmakers said the chamber will vote later in the day on a motion by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a McCarthy antagonist, that could potentially remove McCarthy from his post.
If successful, it would be the first time in U.S. history that House lawmakers voted their leader out.
Said Steube: "I don't understand if [Florida Republican Rep. Matt] Gaetz is going to make an accusation that McCarthy is working with Democrats, now the Democrats have the ability to determine who is the speaker of the Republican conference after the overwhelming majority [of Republicans] supported Kevin to be speaker."
Steube added that if Gaetz and his allies "do what they say they're going to do, and [House Minority Leader Hakeem] Jeffries apparently has said they're not going to do anything to help him, they're going to vote yes to vacate the chair; that means that a handful of Republicans — last count is five to seven — are going to join with every single Democrat on the floor to take away the Republican voted-in Speaker of the House.
"So I don't … quite buy the argument that it's McCarthy working with the Democrats when these five to seven Republicans will be working with every Democrat on the floor to move to vacate the chair, to remove the Republican speaker."
Steube also noted: "The last time this happened, we ended up with [former House Speaker] Paul Ryan and we lost the majority, so history doesn't bode well for these types of things on the floor."
Reuters contributed to this report.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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