To hear Rep. Matt Gaetz tell it, everything is going according to plan.
Yes, Kevin McCarthy is now retiring early and House Republicans will have to contend with an even smaller majority. And sure, they’re struggling to pass their own spending bills as another government shutdown deadline approaches. Speaker Mike Johnson, only two months into the job, has repeatedly pulled legislation from the floor amid policy disputes between his members. Personal feuds abound, too. But Gaetz, the Florida Republican who bears a great deal of responsibility for these circumstances, doesn’t appear concerned.
Departing Republicans? Gaetz wants to replace them with candidates who are sufficiently “America first.” The funding deadline? Gaetz is fine with shutting down the government if it means gaining leverage over President Joe Biden in immigration negotiations. And as for Gaetz’s Republican colleagues who are angry with him for triggering McCarthy’s ouster in October? No matter. Onstage in Phoenix last weekend, Gaetz knew he had the patriots of AmericaFest, the annual conference hosted by the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, in his corner.