Top US Republican Kevin McCarthy was fighting for his political life ahead of a vote expected Tuesday on whether to remove him as House speaker, forced by far-right critics angered by his work with Democrats.
McCarthy sparked fury among the ultra-conservative wing of the party when he passed a bipartisan stopgap funding measure backed by the White House to avert a government shutdown on Saturday.
Leading the criticism is congressman Matt Gaetz, a longtime McCarthy antagonist who on Monday moved to topple the speaker with a "motion to vacate the chair" -- forcing a vote that is expected later Tuesday.
The move means Democrats will have to determine whether to bail out a speaker who has spent much of his term opposing their agenda, supports scandal-embroiled Donald Trump, and recently opened an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
The entire House of Representatives would vote, and with the slim Republican majority, McCarthy can only lose four Republicans if all members are present and Democrats vote against him.
Despite his narrow path, McCarthy has struck a defiant tone, declaring that he has the votes to keep his gavel.
"I'm confident I'll hold on," he told reporters on Capitol Hill.
But Gaetz says he is certain he has the four Republican backers he needs to oust McCarthy -- as long as Democrats don't intervene to rescue the speaker.
"I have enough Republicans where at this point next week, one of two things will happen: Kevin McCarthy won't be the speaker of the House, or he'll be the speaker of the House working at the pleasure of the Democrats," the Florida lawmaker said.
"I'm at peace with either result because the American people deserve to know who governs them."
- Republican civil war -
The tussle comes two days after the House and Senate passed a measure to avert a costly government shutdown -- both with big bipartisan majorities -- by extending federal funding through mid-November.
Conservatives were angered by what they saw as a flip-flop by McCarthy, who had promised an end to hastily prepared stopgap legislation agreed with the support of the opposite party, and a return to the "normal order" of budgeting through the committee process.
The speaker announced Tuesday that the fight would come to the House floor at midday, starting with a preliminary vote designed to "table" Gaetz's motion, effectively strangling it at birth.
McCarthy placed a call late Monday to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who has yet to announce publicly whether he wants his troops to rescue the California Republican or let him sink.
But there is little support for the speaker across the aisle, and many liberal lawmakers have indicated that they would prefer to watch the Republican civil war from the sidelines rather than get involved.
Democrats have not made clear what concessions they would extract for their support but they could go as far as demanding equal representation on key committees -- effectively coalition government -- or an end to the Biden impeachment probe.
McCarthy's allies say he is against cutting deals with Democrats and he would face another backlash in any case were he to accede to such demands.
The right-wing House Freedom Caucus has been a leading thorn in McCarthy's side since he won the gavel in January but several leading members, including chairman Scott Perry, announced that they were against firing him.
"I have been profoundly disappointed in several elements of Speaker McCarthy's leadership, but now is not the time," said South Carolina's Ralph Norman.
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