Rep. Courtney Statement on Motion to Vacate

WASHINGTON, DC -- Rep. Joe Courtney made the following statement on the vote to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House: 

“Throughout my time in Congress, I have repeatedly found common ground with Republicans to get real results for eastern Connecticut. 

“For example, last May, I voted with Speaker McCarthy to prevent a catastrophic default on the full faith and credit of our nation, as well as a bipartisan blueprint for the 2024 federal budget that cut the deficit. The ink was barely dry on that measure and he abandoned his commitment to it, in order to placate extreme Republicans in his caucus. This fecklessness led us to the brink of a government shutdown, which once again Democrats had to intervene in order save him from himself. 

“In July, when the House Armed Services Committee passed the annual defense bill 58-1, extreme Republicans turned against it on the House floor, and once again, Speaker McCarthy abandoned that bipartisan path and jammed it with poison pills to satisfy the far right. 

“The Motion to Vacate today is the latest consequence of extreme Republicans’ choke hold on the rules of the People’s House that McCarthy endorsed last January which are feeding a civil war in the Majority caucus. It is clear that a bipartisan pathway in a closely divided House is needed to stabilize the Congress. Such a pathway would enable a center left and center right coalition to do the people’s business. Kevin McCarthy has signaled repeatedly he is unwilling to follow that solution. For that reason, I voted ‘yes’ on the Republican Motion to Vacate the Chair.”

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