The Gaetz Maneuver
The America First Firebrand from Florida held the line throughout the Speaker nomination process paving the way for big changes to the 118th Congress House Rules - and may just be getting started
You can say a lot of things about Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz (FL), as he has been the center of many discussions inside the Beltway for several months now. But whether or not the Firebrand House Representative is or isnāt your cup of tea, doesnāt take away from the fact that Gaetzās stock in the Republican Party is rising (again). At a time when conservatives may be looking for a slight rebrand, itās clear that the America First Representative is just getting (re)started.
Although Gaetz is used to being at the center of the debate to push the caucus more to towards the nationalist, populist movement, one that better serves America First, his head-to-head public negotiations with now Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy was undoubtedly a match for the (current) ages.
In a recent Breitbart interview, Gaetz opened up about the final agreements which were woven into the now passed Rules for the 118th Session of Congress stating, āWeāre going to have votes on term limits, balanced budgets, internal enforcement of our immigration laws,ā Gaetz continued. āNone of those things would have happened if we had caved on Monday. But by getting these concessions and coming to a stronger place, the House is in a stronger position.ā
It would appear that Gaetz and āThe Twentyā (the group of 20 lawmakers who held up the McCarthy Speakership bargaining for new House Rules and assignments) as theyāve been tabbed, have made good on hard-pressing McCarthy out of the gates; just this week we have seen the normally milquetoast Congressman turned Speaker clap back on the press while answering questions about releasing the 14,000 hours of January 6th tapes, the legacy mediaās hypocrisy when (not) comparing New York Congressman, George Santos to democrat caucus members like Eric Swalwell, Ilhan Omar and the biggest liar of them all, Adam Schiff; even hammering down on the two-tier justice system regarding the handling (or lack thereof) of Joe Bidenās recent document scandal following Trumpās home being raided as part of the DOJ probe shortly before the midterms last year.
But Gaetzās rise from the mainstream mediaās depiction as the far right Trump loyalist to one of real the leaders in the Republican House was not an overnight transformation, especially regarding his war with McCarthy.
The Rolling Stone reported that McCarthy, in Gaetzās opinion, failed to mount a forceful enough defense on his behalf. According to two sources familiar with the matter, Gaetz has been furious at McCarthy for the perceived lack of support ever since ā despite the fact that McCarthy did not strip him of any committee assignments during the probe.
Letās highlight the biggest takeaways from the very important process that played out which exposed the growing pains within the Republican Party.
1.) Paybackās a bitch.
Thereās no love lost between Kevin McCarthy and Matt Gaetz, and Gaetz used that long-standing public animosity to fuel the revolt that āThe Twentyā would harness to secure House Rules amendments, additions and tweaks. It also allowed Gaetz to bully House Freedom Caucus (HFC) members to be included in leadership for the first time with Chip Roy (TX) added to Rules, Jim Jordan (OH) and Tom Massie (KY) heading the āWeaponization of Federal Law Enforcement,ā Church-style committee, and Byron Donalds (FL) now sitting on Steering.
The public embarrassment that McCarthy endured losing each of his first fourteen votes had to have been all but pleasing to Gaetz and Co. watching McCarthy squirm and concede every item (and more) that The Twenty knew were critical to achieving success in the 118th Session of Congress which just kicked off.
2.) America First vs MAGA vs the Establishment
The biggest win following the negations which led to McCarthy eventually securing the Speakership was that the Republican House took legitimate steps towards steering back towards an America First agenda without waving the Trump 2024 flags, which can be a good thing when trying to whip more moderates in the party. And while Trump worked actively behind the scenes throughout the course of the process to secure the Speaker spot, it was Gaetz who acted independently and in some instances against the opinion of Trump - which when discussing open debate is a good thing.
3.) Cutting excess baggage & redefining alliances
The only head to head conflicts besides Gaetz vs McCarthy (ideologically) and Gaetz vs Congressman Mike Rogers of Alabama (with a steel chair), was that between Gaetz and Georgia Representative, Marjorie Taylor Green. MTG broke out of the November straw poll hard aligned with McCarthy, and never wavered in her undying love for the prospectus of Kevin welding the gavel. Despite the near inseparable manner that Gaetz and Green had been years prior, it was Gaetz who continued to fight for the changes which would eventually become rules and standards for the 118th Congress.
And while Gaetz is seemingly stronger in his position within the caucus and the HFC following the Speaker debate, itās also apparent that this ties and alliances with fellow members like Donalds, Lauren Boebert (CO) Jim Banks (IN) Bob Good (VA), Jim Jordan, James Comer (KY) and parts of the incoming freshman class like Anna Paulina Luna (FL) and Eli Crane (AZ) are now more solidified than ever, with the odd man out moving forward very well might be a now McCarthy-aligned MTG.
Funny the things people will do to secure a committee seat, now arenāt they?
As the new Congress begins and we advance onward towards setting the county back on course donāt get your expectations set at too high a bar.
With a slim majority in the Republican House and a two seat majority in the Senate (51-48) for the dems, we can only expect that oversight and investigations will have to be enough to keep ourselves hungry moving into the 2024 General Election campaign cycle, which we are currently at the threshold of entering.
Although we may see a better budgetary outlook and appropriations process moving forward, we mustnāt waste this (for once in a long time) seized opportunity to focus on extending the majority in the Republican House, winning back the Senate (which on paper is nearly indefensible for the dems next cycle) and returning a Republican President back to the White House in 2024.
America First will rely heavily on Gaetz and the The Twenty hold Speaker McCarthy accountable and that he adhere to his promises that he made to them on behalf of the American people.
A big test is coming in the next week, with the Debt Ceiling debate on everyoneās agenda.
We can make another big dent in the Administrative State apparatus by flipping the RNC Chair later this month.
But thatās a subject for a later debate. In the meantime, we can relish in this victory behind a push from Gaetzās leadership while preparing for the next battle ahead.
Rone is the Executive Producer and a host on the Steak for Breakfast Podcast. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts at:
You can also read more from Rone and the podcast team by subscribing to the Steak for Substack at: https://open.substack.com/pub/steakforbreakfastpodcast?r=17wiwo&utm_medium=ios