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SALT LAKE CITY — A group of GOP representatives wrote a letter to their Republican colleagues, expressing their disapproval of the ousting of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from his role as speaker.
"We cannot allow our majority to be dictated to by the alliance between the chaos caucus and the minority party that will do nothing more than guarantee the failure of our next speaker," they wrote.
The letter, signed by 45 lawmakers including Rep. Blake Moore and dated Oct. 5, said that less than 4% of the Republican Conference joined Democrats in voting to oust McCarthy, going against the will of the majority of Republicans, in a 216-210 vote earlier this week.
The eight Republicans — including Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona and Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado — who voted to oust McCarthy were led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.
McCarthy has alleged that Gaetz introduced the motion to take the speaker's gavel over "personal reasons," saying Gaetz accused McCarthy of not supporting him after an ethics complaint was filed against him.
Meanwhile, all three Utah Republican congressmen voted to keep McCarthy as speaker, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Following the vote, Moore, who represents Utah's 1st Congressional District, said in a statement, "Today's vote was not about Kevin McCarthy's performance as speaker or disagreement over the House Republican agenda. Today's vote was about Matt Gaetz and his insatiable desire for attention."
The letter issued Thursday called McCarthy "one of the most accomplished Republican leaders in modern history" despite having only a four-seat majority in the House as well as the Democrat-controlled Senate and White House.
This response from lawmakers comes as House Republicans scramble to elect a new speaker. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio are vying for the position, as was former President Donald Trump until he changed his mind and endorsed Jordan.
The House of Representatives is also under pressure to pass spending bills before government funding runs out in less than 40 days.
USA Today reported that following his removal, McCarthy said the discussions he had with Senate leaders to avert a shutdown would not bear fruit since the House is focused on choosing the next leader.
"I'm concerned with the timeline now," McCarthy said.
The Republican lawmakers wrote in the letter that they were "ashamed and embarrassed" by the actions of a select few in the party "who abandoned and undermined our Conference to dictate every outcome in policy and personnel for the remainder of this Congress."
"The injustice we all witnessed cannot go unaddressed," the letter said in conclusion. It called for reviewing the rules changes that were made earlier this year.
When McCarthy was struggling to become speaker in January, he promised a small group of lawmakers a rules change to allow a single representative to bring a motion to vacate the chair, which serves as a vote of no confidence.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, signed the letter. According to the Washington Examiner, McCarthy's allies like Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., and Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla, were also listed as signatories.
