(The Hill) – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) on Tuesday called on House Republicans to expel Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and defeat his motion to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his post.
In a scathing op-ed published in The Washington Post, Gingrich attacked the Florida Republican as “anti-Republican” and said Gaetz was engaging in “childish behavior” and “has become actively destructive to the conservative movement.”
“Gaetz’s motion to remove McCarthy should be swiftly defeated, and then he should be expelled from the House Republican Conference. House Republicans have far more important things to do than entertain one member’s ego,” Gingrich wrote.
“Gaetz has gone beyond regular drama. He is destroying the House GOP’s ability to govern and draw a sharp contrast with the policy disasters of the Biden administration,” he wrote.
Gingrich ripped Gaetz for what he described as egocentric behavior and for distracting from issues that could be damaging to Democrats.
Gingrich added that Gaetz was in violation of a House Republican Conference rule that says a motion to vacate “should only be available with the agreement of the Republican Conference so as to not allow Democrats to choose the Speaker.”
Gingrich argues that an agreement made when McCarthy became Speaker to allow