politics

Don’t worry. Although Congress is at a standstill without a speaker for the first time in American history, Rep. Matt Gaetz said that everything is going according to his “plan.”

During an appearance on Meet the Press, Gaetz — who led the effort to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy from his position as speaker of the House — defended his actions, even though they have left Congress “paralyzed,” according to Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton, in the face of an unprecedented attack against Israel.

“You led this effort to oust Speaker McCarthy without a clear replacement in place,” Meet the Press host Kristen Welker said to Gaetz during Sunday’s broadcast. “Was that irresponsible on your part?”

“Not only do we have a clear replacement, we have two,” Gaetz said, referring to GOP Reps. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan who are vying for the top leadership position in the House. “We have two men who are incredibly respected.” Jordan has been accused of covering up sexual assault allegations as wrestling coach at Ohio State; Scalise reportedly once likened himself to ex-Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke “without the baggage” and spoke at a 2002 white supremacist conference organized by a hate group Duke founded.

“But you don’t have a choice and it’s not clear either of them have enough votes,” Welker said to Gaetz.

“I think that in a two-man race, it’s a lot easier to get someone to 50 percent plus one than in a race where you have three, four, five, seven people,” Gaetz replied. “So the fact that it’s been a constrained race, you are watching the plan play out.”

Welker to Gaetz: "You voted for those tax cuts under the Trump administration which helped create that $8 trillion deficit that you're talking about right there. Did you not? Is this not as some of your critics would say hypocritical?" pic.twitter.com/gG8DntYrke — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 8, 2023

In addition to Scalise and Jordan, some MAGA Republicans have floated Donald Trump himself as a candidate for the role. Trump refused to step in and try to save McCarthy as his speakership was threatened. Sources close to the former president told Rolling Stone that Trump said behind closed doors that McCarthy’s fate was “up to him.”

Welker also questioned Gaetz about efforts to remove him from Congress: “I have been speaking to some of your Republican colleagues and you know that there are discussions about potentially kicking you out of Congress… If you lose your job will it be worth it?”

“Absolutely,” Gaetz said. “Look, I am here to fight for my constituents. And I’m here to ensure that America’s not on a path to financial ruin. Your average American family right now is spending $700 more each and every month for the same household goods and services… We’re spending $7 trillion a year and only taking in $5 [trillion]. So to me, people who are willing to drive $2 trillion annual deficits are the agents of chaos. The people who want budgets are actually agents of regular order.”

Welker pounced at this, pointing out that Gaetz is responsible for a portion of the deficit by voting for Trump’s tax cuts. “Congressman, respectfully, you voted for those tax cuts under the Trump administration, which helped create that $8 trillion deficit that you’re talking about right there, did you not?” Welker said. “Is this not, as some of your critics would say, hypocritical, given that?”

“No, I voted against ten continuing resolutions during the Trump era,” Gaetz said.

“But you voted for the tax cuts,” Welker retorted.

“I actually voted against the budget that created the platform for the reconciliation of those tax cuts because it didn’t balance,” Gaetz said. “I agreed with Senator Rand Paul at the time that we should do the tax cuts with offsets and balanced budgets.”

But Gaetz acknowledged right before he voted for it that the tax bill would increase the deficit at the time of the vote in 2017. “Certainly in the early years, this tax cut will negatively affect the deficit,” he said on MSNBC at the time.

The tax cuts ultimately benefited corporate America to the tune of billions of dollars in profits while lowering taxes for middle-wage earners by only $65 a month — far short of the windfall Trump and the GOP promised. By 2027, the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reported, the tax burden for working-class wage earners will increase as the cuts phase out. Maybe that, too, was all part of Gaetz’s grand “plan.”