House Republican demands punishment for anti-McCarthy rebels
October 04, 2023
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) told CNN on Wednesday that there needs to be punishments for the eight Republicans who voted with House Democrats to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as House Speaker.
After being asked about potential replacements for McCarthy, Lawler said that the conference shouldn't move forward with finding a new leader until it had dealt with its most rebellious members.
"I think there needs to be a reckoning within the conference, accountability for the eight individuals who selfishly upended our House majority and put their own interests above the country," he said.
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Host Phil Mattingly then asked him what form this accountability would take.
"To me, they need to lose their committee assignments and there needs to be consideration as to whether or not they're even part of the conference," he said. "We had House Republican conference rules that require a majority of a majority before bringing the motion to vacate to the floor. The fact these eight individuals teamed up with AOC, Ilhan Omar, Jamal Bowman... It's disgraceful and it's wrong!"
Lawler also argued that Republicans needed to change rules so that one person could not singlehandedly bring up a motion to vacate against a House Speaker as Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) did this week.
Watch the video below or at this link.