Katherine Doyle is a White House reporter for NBC News.
Scott Wong is a senior congressional reporter for NBC News.
WASHINGTON — As criticism builds in Republican ranks over the debt ceiling deal struck by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden, some hard-line conservatives have begun floating the idea of toppling the speaker.
On a House Freedom Caucus call Monday night, Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., floated using the motion to vacate, a rule that would allow any member of Congress to force a vote to remove the speaker, two sources familiar with the call told NBC News. Buck, speaking toward the end of the call, referred to it as the “elephant in the room,” one source said.
After House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., suggested it might be too early for such a drastic threat, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., proposed using the threat to force McCarthy to allow members to amend the bill on the House floor, under an "open rule" that could stall the bill's passage. Perry responded that they would discuss the issue more when members return to Washington after the long weekend.
One lawmaker on the call who confirmed that Buck suggested using the motion to vacate said of the Biden-McCarthy deal, "Some people feel this is a complete miss," adding, “I’d say there are five or more who would be sympathetic to Buck’s position.”
Another lawmaker who was on the call, but did not hear Buck's suggestion, said bluntly, “The unity we had is gone.”
While right-wing members have blasted the deal publicly, calling it "insanity," a “turd-sandwich" and criticizing the scale of the cuts, lawmakers had held back from threatening to oust McCarthy over the agreement.
Over the weekend, many lawmakers dismissed using the motion to vacate when asked whether they would threaten McCarthy’s speakership over the debt bill, even as growing numbers say they intend to vote against it.
But, as one former Republican White House official told NBC News over the weekend after the deal was announced: “McCarthy is now on a clock.”
“We don’t comment on internal HFC discussions,” Buck spokesperson Joe Jackson said. “Congressman Buck is focused on finding a debt ceiling solution that doesn’t give Democrats a blank check to add trillions of dollars to the debt in the next two years.”
Spokespeople for Perry and Gosar did not respond to requests for comment.
