Banks: It doesn’t make sense to remove McCarthy as Speaker

WASHINGTON (WIBC) — Calls have been renewed on Capitol Hill by some Republicans to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is leading the effort to do just that. He has filed what is called a “motion to vacate.” In plain English, he is moving that McCarthy be removed as speaker and replaced with someone else.

“It is becoming increasingly clear who the speaker of the House already works for, and it’s not the Republican conference,” Gaetz said as he filed the motion Monday.

The frustration from some Republicans, such as Gaetz, comes on the heels of Congress passing a stop-gap spending measure.

Gaetz and a handful of other Republicans voted against the measure. Rep. Jim Banks (IN-3rd) was one of those Republicans who voted against it. But He draws the line at ousting McCarthy as speaker.

“I’m not happy with how things are going either,” Banks said on WIBC’s Hammer and Nigel. “I voted against this (stop-gap measure) because it continues to fund big government spending of the Biden era, but I am also realistic about what Speaker McCarthy has on his hands.”

Banks said it’s still difficult for the GOP at the moment, regardless of who the speaker is, because Democrats still control the Senate and the White House.

Because of this fact, Banks feels Republicans need to focus on what they can accomplish.

“There are lots of other things that we promised the American people that we would do with our majority,” he continued. “I think that is where the frustration is, but I do not support the motion to vacate. Removing the speaker doesn’t make sense to me.”

A vote on whether McCarthy will keep the gavel in the House will likely come within the next two days. It’s a privileged resolution, which means it now has priority above all other business in the House.