Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is offering Democrats subpoena power in exchange for their help in ousting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Politico reported Friday.
“He’s been talking to everybody about [ousting McCarthy],” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told Politico. “I told him in our caucus, in the Progressive Caucus, we’re not planning to save McCarthy — for a whole host of reasons.”
WATCH — McCarthy to Rep. Gaetz: “Bring It On,” I’ll Survive as Speaker:
Gaetz denied talking to Democrats about such an effort, insisting he was working to kill the short-term spending bill McCarthy successfully ushered to passage Saturday.
But Gaetz has gone even further, promising Democrats subpoena power on the House Oversight Committee in the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden in exchange for working with him to boot McCarthy, the New York Post reported.
According to the Post, Gaetz’s “backroom proposal would potentially allow Democrats on the GOP-led panel to select which witnesses receive subpoenas in the investigation into the 80-year-old president’s involvement in his family’s overseas business dealings, and allow them to nix the subpoenas from Republican members — which could derail the probe.”
WATCH — Matt Gaetz: I Will Move to Oust McCarthy