Matt Gaetz strikes at Speaker McCarthy. Will Biden, government shutdown end up as pawns?

Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz is waging war on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and this time he may drag President Joe Biden and a U.S. government shutdown into the fray as well.

The back and forth between Gaetz and McCarthy exploded bitterly on Thursday when McCarthy punctuated a dare to Gaetz and others to move the motion to oust him with an expletive, according to news reports.

"Move the (expletive) spending bill," McCarthy reportedly said.

On Tuesday, Gaetz, who represents a Pensacola-area district, "served notice" on McCarthy that his job is on the line. In a speech in the U.S. House, Gaetz said McCarthy had failed to deliver on concessions the California congressman made during the 15-vote saga that was his election to the speakership in January.

"I rise today to serve notice — Mr. Speaker, you are out of compliance with the agreement that allowed you to assume this role," Gaetz said, adding: "The path forward for the House of Representatives is to either bring you into immediate, total compliance or remove you pursuant to a motion to vacate the chair."

Gaetz's threat is not exactly a dismissible one for McCarthy. Among the allowances McCarthy relented to eight months ago is one permitting a single member of the House to bring a motion forward to fire him. Ousting McCarthy then requires a simple majority vote in the chamber, but McCarthy seems to enjoy broad support within the GOP ranks that has a razor-thin majority.

OK, all this sounds like a lot of intra-party warfare, but there are a few big-picture items in play.

What's at stake? Read on.

A U.S. government shutdown potentially on Oct. 1

Gaetz is demanding McCarthy schedule votes on specific spending bills rather than what's called a continuing resolution, a mechanism to fund the entire government for a designated period of time. It is a process that has been consistently used, rather than passage of a congressional budget, since 2010.

During that time, there have been three federal government shutdowns, in 2014 and 2018 as well as one that started in December 2018 and rolled through late January 2019. That last shutdown, a 35-day impasse that ranks as the longest on record, was sparked largely by then-President Donald Trump's demand for border wall funding. House Democrats eventually agreed to border security funding but not for a barrier.

The more recent government shutdowns have been partial. Many services, like entry and access to national parks, are suspended. But vital functions, like federal airport security and travel-related functions, continue to operate.

Gaetz said he will seek McCarthy's ouster if the speaker endorses an overall stopgap funding measure.

"Sept. 30 is rapidly approaching, and you have not put us in a position to succeed. There is no way to pass all the individual appropriations bills now and it's not like we didn't know when Sept. 30 was going to show up on the calendar," Gaetz said.

Gaetz versus McCarthy: Florida congressman leads revolt ... joined by others from Sunshine State

Impeachment of President Joe Biden

Gaetz and other far-right conservatives have been unhappy with the pace of progress toward impeachment of Biden.

On Tuesday, McCarthy issued a statement saying he was "directing" House Republicans to open a "formal impeachment inquiry" into the president. But that does not mean the House is embarking on the third impeachment of a U.S. president in four years.

Rather, an inquiry is akin to an investigation. However, House Republicans have been spent months probing the business dealings of Biden's son, Hunter Biden, who was indicted on Thursday on federal gun charges by a Department of Justice appointed special counsel.

Despite hearings and testimony, the investigations by the GOP-led congressional committees have not turned up hardcore evidence of misdoings or illegalities by the president.

That very fact has caused rancor within the Republicans in the House, with conservative Colorado U.S. Rep. Ken Buck openly feuding on Twitter with far-right Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene over the march to impeachment despite the lack of evidence. Capitol Hill watchers say McCarthy does not have enough Republican votes to approve an impeachment inquiry, which is why he issued the statement this week.

By contrast, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi put the issue of an impeachment inquiry of Trump over the Ukraine scandal to a full House vote in October 2019. That motion passed 232 to 196.

Trump was ultimately impeached in December of that year and then acquitted after a U.S. Senate trial in February 2020. He was again impeached for his actions during the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 but acquitted during a U.S. Senate trial that took place after he was out of office.

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Speaking of Jan. 6, that's a source of friction as well

In his speech this week, Gaetz criticized McCarthy for not releasing the full security tapes from the Jan. 6 attack. Gaetz also said McCarthy had failed to hold votes on balanced budget requirements and term limits for members of Congress.

But, it's not like Gaetz has ever been a fan of McCarthy as House speaker.

The Floridian was part of a group that opposed McCarthy's election so vociferously that it took 15 rounds of voting before McCarthy won the gavel late on a Friday night just minutes before the House would have adjourned for the weekend.

And only after another Republican congressman was seen attempting to lunge at Gaetz, who ended up being one of the last holdouts to vote for McCarthy.

Will progressives join Gaetz? One Florida Democrat reportedly will.

Let's count some votes.

The 435-member U.S. House breaks down this way along party lines: 222 Republicans to 212 Democrats, with two vacant seats.

That's a slim advantage for McCarthy and his Republican allies. And now there are some progressive Democrats who say they would vote to oust McCarthy.

One of those reportedly is U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost of Orlando. If more were to join Frost, McCarthy could be in trouble.

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Gaetz, McCarthy feud has Biden impeachment, government shutdown at stake