Burchett would ‘look strongly’ at ousting McCarthy if funding deal passes with Dem support

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said Sunday that he would consider supporting an effort to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) if he allows a deal to pass to keep the government open that gets Democratic votes.

“That would be something I would look strongly at,” Burchett told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” when asked whether he would support such a measure.

“They’re all talking about this promise that he made with Biden a year ago,” Burchett continued, referring to the deal reached by President Biden and McCarthy earlier this summer to suspend the debt ceiling in order for the country not to default that also set spending caps on next year’s funding. “What about the promise we made to the American public that we were going to be responsible Americans?” 

Burchett’s comments come as he and some other hard-right Republicans continue to push for larger spending cuts and have refused to support any continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open beyond this upcoming Friday.

Some proposals have emerged to find a way forward to stave off a government shutdown, including one which would require Democratic votes — an effort that proves increasingly difficult as McCarthy has taken steps to antagonize his Democratic colleagues in order to appease his far-right contingency in the House.

It remains unclear whether a bipartisan compromise would come to the floor for a vote, let alone get the necessary votes to pass.

Burchett said McCarthy should have called the House back over the weekend to work on a funding deal.

“We are going to be governing over a pile of rubble if we’re not careful. Our financial ship is sinking, and the American public needs to realize all these fancy titles — CRs and omnibus — to confuse the American public is not working,” Burchett said. “The curtain’s off. We need to do our duty. We should be back in Washington right now and dealing with it. But what are we doing? They sent us home.”