Kevin McCarthy points to ugly fate for Matt Gaetz

When Matt Gaetz got Kevin McCarthy ousted as Speaker, was it simply out of a miscreant desire to cause trouble, or was Gaetz trying to keep himself from being expelled? After all, it’s long been reported that the Republican-controlled House Ethics Committee has a scathing report coming out about Gaetz. And because Gaetz is in a far right district, Republicans can expel him without any risk of losing his seat in the resulting special election. Now McCarthy is hinting that this may indeed be coming.

McCarthy appeared on Fox News this weekend and said that once the ethics report about Matt Gaetz is issued, Gaetz “could have the same problem as Santos has.” McCarthy then hinted that this could result in Gaetz’s expulsion, which would allow the Republican House conference to move forward more easily.

For reference, the House Ethics Committee report against George Santos referred him for criminal prosecution and recommended his expulsion. Kevin McCarthy is claiming that the House Ethics Committee report against Matt Gaetz could be on that level. We’ll see if this ends up being the case.

It’s long felt like once House Republicans finally settled on a new Speaker, and thus no longer needed the votes of certain problematic members like Santos and Gaetz, they might go ahead and expel them. The manner in which House Republicans treat the Santos expulsion matter in the coming days could go a long way toward hinting at Gaetz’s expulsion fate as well.