House Republicans may still throw away their already slim majority, and hand control of Congress back to Democrats, as some consider expelling Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.
USA Today reported on Friday that some GOP lawmakers seek to boot Gaetz because they are festering over his successful bid to topple former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“If there’s anything in there that’s bad, I can guarantee people will have their fangs out. He is hated in our conference. If he comes back as guilty in this ethics thing, I think he’s in trouble,” one unidentified Republican lawmaker told the newspaper.
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When asked about the effort to dump him, Gaetz told USA Today: “Which members?” Apparently, he had no further comment.
The issue of scuttling Gaetz emerged after dozens of Republicans voted with Democrats last week to expel former New York Rep. George Santos.
Santos became the first member of Congress since the Civil War to be expelled without first being convicted of a crime. Gaetz had opposed that move, saying Republicans would set a bad precedent by dumping Santos without a criminal conviction.
USA Today’s report, which was based on two GOP lawmakers who hid behind the cloak of anonymity, noted that Santos may have provided some GOP lawmakers the ammo they needed to get rid of Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican.
“There were a number of people who voted to expel Santos with the express intent of thinking through the precedent there on what happens next,” a second unidentified lawmaker told USA Today. “There was a lot of forethought about the precedent and what would happen when a report on Gaetz comes out.”
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The House Ethics Committee is investigating Gaetz for allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and misuse of campaign funds.
Anti-Gaetz Republicans “are much more ‘excited’ to expel Gaetz than Santos if the House Ethics Committee releases a report that is just as damning for Gaetz as it was for the Long Island Republican,” USA Today reported.
Yet, as the Tampa Free Press reported earlier this year, the Biden Justice Department dropped its pursuit of Gaetz for the alleged sex trafficking of a minor girl because of a lack of evidence and witnesses who proved to be not credible.
Meanwhile, the Federal Elections Commission, a bipartisan panel, voted unanimously to toss a complaint against Gaetz filed by a disgruntled former GOP challenger who claimed Gaezt wrongfully spent campaign funds on his legal defense in the Justice Department probe.
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