Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is taking a jab at his replacement after Democrats voted to help him keep his position.
On Wednesday, House Democrats voted with Republicans to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)
Leading House Democrats announced they would vote to table the motion after Johnson paved the way for the House to pass aid bills for Ukraine and Israel.
Speaking to Politico’s Power Play podcast, McCarthy — who was ousted from the position in the fall — acknowledged, “Trying to find another person to serve is very, very difficult, and it’s chaos for America” if Johnson was also removed.
However, he added, “Should I have done a deal? I couldn’t live with myself if I did a deal with the Democrats.”
In October, there was speculation House Democrats would vote against Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) motion to vacate.
But, McCarthy declined to offer any concessions to Democrats to win their help, and he was ousted.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that Johnson did not ask for help from Democrats.
“Our view would traditionally be, ‘Let the other side work its own mess out,'” Jeffries said.
However, he added, “When that mess starts to impact the ability to do the job on behalf of the American people, then the responsible thing at that moment might be for us to make clear that we will not allow the extremists to throw the Congress and the country into chaos.
After the vote on Wednesday, Johnson said, “I want to say that I appreciate the show of confidence for my colleagues to defeat this misguided effort.”
“I’ve made clear here every day, I intend to do my job, I intend to do what I believe to be the right thing, which I was elected to do. And I’ll let the chips fall where they may,” he added.
