Rep. Gaetz Has Spoken to Donald Trump About Campaign to Oust McCarthy As House Speaker

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said Monday that he has spoken to former President Donald Trump about his plans to challenge the leadership of Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Gaetz said he had talked with Donald Trump about getting rid of McCarthy, but declined to say how the embattled former president came down on the issue. "I think I'm going to keep that between the two of us," Gaetz said.

Gaetz on Monday teased his intentions to move to oust the California Republican as speaker, demanding that McCarthy explain the details of an alleged side deal with Democrats to consider more aid for Ukraine in the coming weeks. A pledge to move a separate bill to provide more U.S. aid to Ukraine was part of Saturday's frenzied, late-night negotiations to avoid a government shutdown.

Gaetz for months has threatened to bring a motion to vacate against McCarthy, with just one lawmaker needed to trigger the motion as part of an agreement between the speaker and conservative holdouts to secure the gavel earlier this year.

Trump was in court on Monday in New York for his civil fraud trial, which is separate from the four criminal indictments he faces in four different jurisdictions.

Gaetz told reporters Monday he would take the procedural step to vacate McCarthy from the speakership sometime "this week." He declined to name who he'd like to see as the next speaker, offering that "there's probably 100 Republicans in Congress that I would vote for for speaker. And maybe 100 Republicans throughout the country that I would vote for."