Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) told Newsmax on Sunday that efforts to unseat House Speaker Kevin McCarthy would be futile.
McCormick was asked about Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz’s intention to file a motion to vacate the chair, resulting in McCarthy’s resignation as speaker.
“There’s always going to be a certain number of people who are going to be dissatisfied. Calling for his ousting isn’t helpful,” McCormick told host Jon Glasgow. “He’s not going to be ousted. That’s just not realistic. Of the 20 members that may vote for him to be removed as the speaker, there’s no replacement. There’s no alternative.”
Glasgow said that lawmakers should focus on passing legislation rather than debating it.
“It’s a bit hypocritical to say we’re going to spend time on replacing the speaker we can’t replace,” he said. “We’re supposed to be doing our job.”
On Saturday, McCormick voted against a 45-day funding bill that was eventually approved by the Senate and prevented a shutdown of the federal government.
McCormick voted no on the continuing resolution (CR) but said he could see the rationale for his Republican colleagues’ support.
“The Republicans would have suffered if the government shut down, in my opinion. I think President Joe Biden would have made it as painful as possible,” McCormick told Glasgow.
“The Biden administration would have controlled the discretion of the budget at that point, what’s left over, and I think that they would have closed down military spending, would have made sure that the elderly and poor suffered as much as possible, and blamed it on us.”
As a House Foreign Affairs Committee member, McCormick was asked if Egypt’s financial aid should be suspended until an inquiry into the country’s relationship with New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC).
Recently, Menendez resigned as chairman of the SFRC after being accused of improperly using his position to peddle influence in order to protect and benefit New Jersey businessmen to the advantage of the Egyptian government.
“Right now, there’s a movement inside the Republican Party that we shouldn’t aid anybody outside the United States until we fund our southern border,” McCormick said. “Of course, as a part of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I don’t believe that. As a matter of fact, I think it’s very dangerous to start isolating certain countries.”
“We have to take a step back and realize the effect that takes, whether it be Ukraine, Israel, or Egypt. Each of those countries has to be individually evaluated based on what that country is doing if they’re corrupting the money they’re using from us, and if it’s used against us, especially. So those things have to be considered on a case-by-case basis.”