AIRLINK 75.25 Decreased By ▼ -0.18 (-0.24%)
BOP 5.11 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.79%)
CNERGY 4.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-3.16%)
DFML 32.53 Increased By ▲ 2.43 (8.07%)
DGKC 90.35 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-0.14%)
FCCL 22.98 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.35%)
FFBL 33.57 Increased By ▲ 0.62 (1.88%)
FFL 10.04 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.1%)
GGL 11.05 Decreased By ▼ -0.29 (-2.56%)
HBL 114.90 Increased By ▲ 1.41 (1.24%)
HUBC 137.34 Increased By ▲ 0.83 (0.61%)
HUMNL 9.53 Decreased By ▼ -0.37 (-3.74%)
KEL 4.66 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
KOSM 4.70 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.21%)
MLCF 40.54 Decreased By ▼ -0.56 (-1.36%)
OGDC 139.75 Increased By ▲ 4.95 (3.67%)
PAEL 27.65 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.14%)
PIAA 24.40 Decreased By ▼ -1.07 (-4.2%)
PIBTL 6.92 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PPL 125.30 Increased By ▲ 0.85 (0.68%)
PRL 27.55 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (0.55%)
PTC 14.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.35 (-2.41%)
SEARL 61.85 Increased By ▲ 1.65 (2.74%)
SNGP 72.98 Increased By ▲ 2.43 (3.44%)
SSGC 10.59 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.28%)
TELE 8.78 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-1.24%)
TPLP 11.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.42%)
TRG 66.60 Decreased By ▼ -1.06 (-1.57%)
UNITY 25.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.08%)
WTL 1.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-2.7%)
BR100 7,806 Increased By 81.8 (1.06%)
BR30 25,828 Increased By 227.1 (0.89%)
KSE100 74,531 Increased By 732.1 (0.99%)
KSE30 23,954 Increased By 330.7 (1.4%)

WASHINGTON: US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faced ever-dwindling chances of political survival Tuesday after Democrats announced they would not bail him out of a move by hardliners within his own Republican party to remove him from the powerful post.

McCarthy sparked fury among the ultra-conservative wing of the Republicans at the weekend when he worked with Democrats to pass a stopgap funding measure to avert a government shutdown.

Leading the criticism is congressman Matt Gaetz, a longtime McCarthy antagonist who on Monday moved to topple the speaker with a “motion to vacate the chair” — forcing a vote scheduled for around 2:00pm (1800 GMT).

The move meant Democrats were faced with the choice of voting to rescue a speaker who has spent much of his term opposing their agenda and who supports scandal-embroiled Donald Trump and recently opened an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries ultimately encouraged Democrats to oust McCarthy, criticizing the right-wing lawmakers he refers to as “MAGA extremists” after Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. “Given their unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican motion to vacate the chair,” Jeffries said in a letter to colleagues.

The entire House of Representatives is allowed a say on McCarthy’s future, and with the slim Republican majority, the speaker can only lose four lawmakers if all members are present and Democrats vote against him.

“I’m confident I’ll hold on,” a defiant McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill.

But Gaetz says he is certain he has at least five Republicans ready to vote in favor of ousting McCarthy — enough, as long as Democrats don’t intervene with their own votes to rescue the speaker.

“I have enough Republicans where at this point next week, one of two things will happen: Kevin McCarthy won’t be the speaker of the House, or he’ll be the speaker of the House working at the pleasure of the Democrats,” the Florida lawmaker said.

Comments

Comments are closed.