Congressman Morgan McGarvey’s Statement on Voting to Remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 3, 2023) – Congressman Morgan McGarvey (KY-03) released the following statement ahead of voting on a motion to vacate the chair, a procedural vote that removes Rep. Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives:

“Time and time again, Kevin McCarthy has shown his ambition to be Speaker has completely compromised his ability to govern effectively or with integrity,” said Rep. McGarvey. “McCarthy created this problem by empowering the extremists in his conference, making promises he did not intend to keep, and changing the rules to allow any member of the majority to remove the speaker. McCarthy isn’t trusted in our caucus either, as shown by the fact he entered into a deal on spending limits this May to avoid defaulting on our debt, only to renege four months later as we tried to avoid a government shutdown. We are only as good as our word. Going back to my days in the state senate, I have always been willing to work with people across the aisle – people with whom I have real and sincere disagreements – as long as I knew they were honest brokers who could be trusted. I cannot in good conscience vote to save a Speaker who has not honored his deals, made a mockery of the speaker’s election, brought our country to the brink of a catastrophic debt default and government shutdown, refused to denounce insurrectionists, and cannot be trusted. I will always fight for our community and our country, regardless of which party is in power, but it is not on House Democrats to save House Republicans from themselves; we are ready for the House Majority to stop their infighting so we can get back to work for the American people.”