Matt Gaetz calls McCarthy “squatter” for moving into speaker’s office early

Republican Representative Matt Gaetz has again accused Representative Kevin McCarthy of “squatting” in the office of the Speaker of the House following another day of failed attempts to elect a speaker.

Gaetz said he would continue to oppose McCarthy in remarks shared to Twitter by CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane on Wednesday and he also questioned the fact McCarthy has moved into the speaker’s rooms.

“He’s a desperate guy whose vote share is dropping with every subsequent vote and I’m ready to vote all night, all week, all month and never for that person,” Gaetz said of McCarthy.

“So I tell you what, when he comes out and heads back to his squatting in the speaker’s office, which, why is he even allowed to be there?” Gaetz went on.

The Florida representative asked if there was “some basis in law or statute or rule for someone who comes in second place in six consecutive speaker races” to occupy that office.

Gaetz previously questioned McCarthy’s right to use the speaker’s rooms in a letter to Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton, which the Republican shared on Twitter on Tuesday.

“What is the basis in law, House rule, or precedent to allow someone who has placed second in three successive speaker elections to occupy the Speaker of the House Office?” the letter said. “How long will he remain there before he is considered a squatter?”

McCarthy and his staff followed tradition by moving into the speaker’s office on Monday, which has been left empty pending the election of a new speaker. That’s usually a formality that takes place on the first day of the new Congress.

Newsweek has asked McCarthy’s office for comment.

However, the House has now failed to elect a speaker in six ballots across two days and will reconvene on Thursday in the hopes of choosing a speaker for the 118th Congress.

A candidate must win the majority of votes cast in order to be elected speaker and so far McCarthy has fallen short, while all Democratic members have consistently backed Representative Hakeem Jeffries.

In the final ballot on Wednesday, Jeffries won 212 votes, McCarthy won 201, 20 Republicans voted for Representative Byron Donalds and Representative Victoria Spartz voted “present.”

Spartz had supported McCarthy in previous rounds and a “present” vote lowers the threshold required for someone to win election. However, McCarthy fell well short of the majority required.

Gaetz has been one of the strongest opponents of McCarthy’s bid for the speakership and unless House Republicans can reach some kind of deal, voting is likely to continue without a result.

This is the first time since 1923 that a speaker has failed to win election on the first ballot. It took the House nine ballots across three days before a speaker was chosen. In the contentious 1855 speaker election there were 133 ballots.