Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., says Speaker Kevin McCarthy is “in trouble” after the last-minute vote to fund the government this weekend, saying the deal was a victory for Democrats.
Donalds made the comments during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” with host Shannon Bream. He said Republicans “did not get anything” from Saturday’s short-term funding agreement. The GOP firebrand fell short of saying he would vote to boot McCarthy, R-Calif., from the speaker’s office but said Republicans in the chamber are deeply divided.
Bream referenced comments from House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who declared Saturday that “the extreme MAGA Republicans have lost.”
“Look, I’m gonna be honest. We did not get anything out of this continued resolution,” Donalds said. “The border is still unsecured in our country. Why is that? That’s because Joe Biden and the Democrats got their way. The Democrat members are very happy with what they got. I think this is a terrible deal for the American people.”
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“Cutting this government’s spending down must happen. Inflation is still running rampant. That’s not MAGA Republican, that’s common sense. Having a secure border – that’s not MAGA Republican, that’s common sense,” he added.
Bream then pressed Donalds on McCarthy’s status with the Republican caucus. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., has threatened repeatedly to file a motion to vacate against the speaker.
“I think he is in trouble,” Donalds said. “There has to be some level of strong leadership in our chamber, I’m just gonna be totally blunt. There are a lot of trust issues in our chamber right now, where people feel on both sides of our conference that everybody’s not gonna hold hands and continue to do this work together.”
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Donalds nevertheless fell short of saying he would vote in favor of a motion to vacate against McCarthy. He also said he can’t predict whether Democrats would vote in favor of such a motion.
The House voted on Saturday to fund the government for another 45 days, punting real budget negotiations to November.
