Representative Ken Buck (R-CO) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that during the debt ceiling negotiations, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) showed weakness by passing the debt ceiling deal with votes from Democrats.
Buck said, “The key is that we use that influence in a way brings conservative results. That’s what we tried to do in this case and we failed. The speaker got Democrats to vote for this bill because the bill is a Democrat bill. It not only avoided a default, but locked in the progressive gains that the president made in the last two years.”
Anchor Dana Bash said, “You said that Speaker McCarthy should be concerned about a motion to vacate when one member can force a vote on whether to remove him from the speakership. Is that going to happen?”
Buck said, “I don’t know if a motion to vacate will happen right away. He promised when he was running for speaker that we would use the 2022 baseline numbers as the appropriation numbers for this year and went back on that promise with this particular legislation where he promised and signed into law the 2023 numbers. So we continue to see the swamp winning and the folks who want to spend less money and really act responsibly losing. And so I think Kevin McCarthy has an issue in a broader sense.”
He added, “Nancy Pelosi and her years and years of being speaker never once asked Republicans to vote for the rule, a procedural mechanism, that put the bill on the floor. Kevin McCarthy in his first five months had to ask the Democrats and received 52 votes from the Democrats to actually have the bill heard. That’s really unheard of and shows weakness. And I think that’s the sort of weakness that Republicans are looking at and trying to make a determination whether he will be fit to serve.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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