Rep. Matt Gaetz votes for Donald Trump over Kevin McCarthy as speaker

In spite of his relatively lax campaign schedule so far, former President Donald Trump is very much an officially declared candidate for the upcoming 2024 elections. It may surprise him, however, to learn that he's also a candidate to become the next speaker of the House, as Republicans continue to flail about in the hopes of getting their razor-thin congressional majority off the ground.
As the House convened on Thursday for former Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Cali) seventh attempt to convince 20 or so of his fellow Republicans to put him over the 218-vote threshold for becoming speaker, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), one of McCarthy's staunchest opponents, offered the former president — and McCarthy backer — as a potential alternative.
Gaetz's vote for Trump marked the only change from the lockstep uniformity deployed by the anti-McCarthy bloc during previous votes. The other 19 members of the defecting faction call cast their votes for incoming Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) with one other — Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz — simply voting "present."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Gaetz, long one of the former president's most enthusiastic congressional supporters, did not explain why he switched his choice from Donalds to Trump in this latest ballot, nor did he forecast whether he would continue to do so in subsequent votes.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?
Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Why is this government shutdown so consequential?
Today's Big Question Federal employee layoffs could be in the thousands
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
‘This isn’t just semantics’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeeze
THE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided