VTGOP Chairman Paul Dame issued the following statement today regarding Rep. Matt Gaetz’s motion to vacate, and Rep. Becca Balint’s participation.
“One thing more disappointing than Rep. Matt Gaetz’s decision to vacate the Speaker is Rep. Balint’s excitement to support the kind of unserious political gamesmanship that people like Rep. Gaetz want to engage in. Despite her comments on Saturday opposing “chaos and uncertainty” she is now teaming up with Congress’s top chaos agent to engage in the same kind of reckless behavior she opposed over the weekend.”
Balint released the following statement after voting to oust McCarthy:
“I ran for Congress because our democracy is in crisis. Since the first week of this session, the House has been led by a speaker whose failure to govern with integrity is actively eroding our democracy. Kevin McCarthy enables dangerous extremism that has real consequences for Vermonters and working families across the country. He’s sold his speakership to the highest bidder: MAGA extremists – shepherding through their agenda to ban abortion, attack marginalized people, prop up billionaires, and pollute our communities. He has shown time and time again that he is not a partner we can trust, breaking every promise he has made over the last nine months. This Congress has urgent work to do. I will continue to fight extremism while working hard on behalf of Vermonters.”
Dame – no stranger to leading a Republican body at odds with itself – said he appreciated McCarthy’s efforts.
“I have appreciated the work Speaker McCarthy was willing to undertake in one of the most difficult circumstances. Republicans, like Americans in general, are a diverse group of people with a wide variety of strongly-held viewpoints. I believe Speaker McCarthy did the best he could with the hand he was dealt. His efforts to move back towards a more normal order, passing 4 of the 12 appropriations bills (which funded 70% of government) and negotiating an automatic spending cut (signed by Joe Biden!) if the appropriations bills are not passed – these were all important accomplishments achieved in only 9 months with a narrowly divided house. We were on a path toward meaningful spending and debt reform before the coalition of impatient Republicans and opportunistic Democrats put us on a completely uncertain path.”
”I also thank Speaker McCarthy for his service, and his humility to step aside and not seek to be re-elected as House Speaker, even though he had support from over 95% of the caucus. I appreciate the fact that he was willing to take a stand, and do what he thought was right to ensure Republicans avoided a shut down on our watch – even though it cost him his leadership role.”