Tennessee Republican: I might push to oust McCarthy if he makes deal with Dems

Rep. Tim Burchett is considering supporting a possible effort to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy if McCarthy makes a deal with Democrats as a way out of this week’s impending government shutdown.

“That would be something I would look strongly at, ma'am, if we do away with our duty that we said we're going to do,” Burchett (R-Tenn.) told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union” when asked if he would support removing McCarthy as speaker.

Burchett’s comments come as Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has used the shutdown as a launching pad to call for McCarthy’s removal as speaker. Overall, McCarthy has faced attacks from fellow Republicans accusing him of failing to lead his party, which holds a slim majority in the House, through the chaos.

The House last week failed to pass legislation to fund the government amid Republican infighting with hardliners who have promised to object to any stopgap measure. McCarthy wants to deliver a GOP opening bid to the Democratic Senate while also holding back a rebellion by far-right members of his party.

Republicans are preparing to vote Tuesday on whether to start debate on four government funding bills: Defense, State, Homeland Security and an agriculture bill.

“We are going to be governing over a pile of rubble if we're not careful," Burchett said. “Our financial ship is sinking. And the American public needs to realize, all these fancy titles, C.R.s and omnibus, to confuse the American public is not working. The curtain's off. We need to do our duty. We should be back in Washington right now and dealing with it. But what are we doing? Well, they sent us home.”

In an interview with CNN, Burchett last week indirectly compared McCarthy unfavorably to another California lawmaker, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“I don’t agree with her ever, hardly on anything,” he said of the San Francisco Democrat. “But she was pretty successful.”