House Speaker Kevin McCarthy shot down Rep. Matt Gaetz’s charge that he cut a side deal with President Biden on Ukraine funding.
“There’s no side deal. So I don’t know who’s bringing that up,” Mr. McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol. “There is no side deal on Ukraine.”
The speaker bristled at Mr. Gaetz’s latest attacks on him and the fellow Republican’s effort to remove him from the top job in the House.
“If people want to play politics with it, let’s play politics with it. But I’m just going to do what I think is best for the American public and let it rest,” Mr. McCarthy said.
He said the Ukraine funding did come up during discussions about passing a stopgap spending bill, but no assurances were given about passing a new aid package. The speaker said he was asked to make sure that the money for Ukraine in last year’s funding bill kept flowing during 45 days of temporary funding that averted a shutdown on Sunday.
“I said in some way, if the continuing resolution doesn’t do that, we’ll fix that,” he said. “It’s something we do all the time.”
SEE ALSO: Gaetz says he’s in contact with Trump amid effort to oust McCarthy from speakership
Mr. Gaetz, who is trying to force out Mr. McCarthy as speaker, accused the speaker of making a “secret side deal” with Democrats to win their support for the stopgap bill that passed over the weekend. The 45-day funding bill did not include more aid for Ukraine, which Democrats wanted.
Mr. Gaetz said the speaker promised Democrats that he would later bring up a stand-alone vote to send more money to Ukraine.
Mr. Biden said something similar Sunday when he was asked if he would be able to trust Mr. McCarthy moving forward to keep his word on deals. Mr. Biden replied, “We just made one about Ukraine, so we’ll find out.”
Mr. Gaetz said he would force a House vote this week to remove Mr. McCathy as speaker using what is known as a motion to vacate the chair.
He said Mr. McCarthy makes too many deals with Mr. Biden and Democrats, including the alleged Ukraine aid deal.
The temporary spending bill, which only passed because of Democratic votes, was the impetus for Mr. Gaetz’s decision to try to oust Mr. McCarthy.
SEE ALSO: Marjorie Taylor Greene backs Speaker McCarthy but also doesn’t want to expel Matt Gaetz
Mr. McCarthy told reporters Monday that he felt “good” about the stopgap measure.
“The government stayed open. We’re continuing to do our work. I made sure Congress stayed in,” he said.
He also said he wished House Republicans had passed the more conservative stopgap bill, which died Friday because 21 GOP lawmakers voted against it.
“We’ve already gotten 74% of the discretionary spending already appropriated,” he said of the ongoing appropriations process. “We’re gonna finish that out like we’re supposed to do. … We’re focused on eliminating wasteful spending, getting the wokeism out, but most importantly, too, securing our border. That is key.”
Mr. McCarthy said he had not spoken to House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries or other Democrats about Mr. Gaetz’s threat to remove him.
“This is about the institution. This isn’t about politics,” the speaker said. “We’re never going to be able to govern [if] we’re going to allow one person, be it personal, be it an ethics complaint or something” to split the GOP conference.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.