Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz remained true to his word on Tuesday. He was one of 95 House lawmakers to vote against the continuing resolution to keep the federal government going into the new year.
But despite new Speaker Mike Johnson’s seeming embrace of the same politics that got his predecessor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, removed as the House’s top leader, Gaetz is not ready for a redo with Johnson.
The Fort Walton Beach Republican, who led the charge to oust McCarthy, in large part because of McCarthy’s support for continuing resolutions and debt spending, said he continues to have confidence in Johnson.
Read: Rep. Gaetz Of Florida Files Ethics Complaint Against McCarthy For ‘Sucker Punch’ Of Burchett
In an interview with CNN on Monday night, Gaetz signaled his opposition to the resolution to temporarily keep the government funded. He told CNN he understands that Johnson is looking for “breathing room” by proposing the continuing resolution, which passed the House 336-95 Tuesday.
In all, 93 of those votes were by Republicans, including Gaetz and 11 other lawmakers from Florida.
On CNN, Gaetz said there should have been more of a fight to try to bring spending under control, as the national debt is now $33 trillion and the country faces a $2.2 trillion annual spending deficit.
Still, he added, “There’s a fundamental difference here between Johnson and McCarthy. McCarthy had seven months. Johnson’s only had a few weeks. So, we’ll see what he does with a full amount of time under his belt.”
Read: Florida Gov. DeSantis Notes “Federalist Papers” When Slamming Haley’s Latest Proposal
When asked about their similar approaches to funding the government, Gaetz denied that Johnson is on the same path as McCarthy.
“It’s all a function of time,” Gaetz said.
Gaetz noted that McCarthy and Johnson both promised single-subject spending bills. McCarthy delivered one in seven months, Gaetz noted. If Johnson’s track record mirrors that by next June, he, too, will likely face getting booted.
McCarthy, he said, “pushed us back up against the wall and tried to leverage shutdown politics to get us to do what the lobbyists, and special interests, and the swamp always want to do: and that is, avoid itemized review” of spending proposals.
“If we are seven months into the Mike Johnson speakership and we have only moved a single-subject spending bill, then Mike Johnson likely faces a similar fate,” Gaetz added.
But, he continued, Johnson has shown a “commitment and sincerity in this process that was totally absent under Kevin McCarthy.”
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