'Enough Is Enough': McCarthy 'Friend' Explains His Decision to Oust Speaker

Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett explained his decision to support the resolution ousting US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his position ahead of a vote on October 3.

In a video uploaded to his X account Burchett expressed his disappointment in McCarthy’s choice to strike a deal with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown.

“My thought process is like this – Kevin McCarthy is my friend, and I hate to lose him as a friend, but I had the choice between that and my conscience and what my conscience tells me to do…” Burchett said. “My conscience tells me that we’re $33 trillion in debt.”

“At some point, we just got to say enough is enough, folks. I hate losing Kevin as a friend, but I worry about losing our country in all sincerity. We are rapidly approaching that point.”

The final vote tally was 216 in favor of removing McCarthy as speaker, and 210 against, with eight Republicans voting with 208 Democrats. Credit: Tim Burchett via Storyful

Video transcript

TIM BURCHETT: Hey, everybody, Tim Burchett. Today will be a vote on a motion to vacate the chair which is the speakership, and my thought process is like this. Kevin McCarthy is my friend and I hate to lose him as a friend. But I had a choice between that and my conscience and what my conscience tells me to do. And my conscience tells me that we're at $33 trillion in debt. We took off the whole month of August knowing that September was going to come around. Does every year, at the end of our budgetary year, fiscal year. And there is no urgency.

And then we just do a continued resolution, kicking the can 45 days down the road. And then that will be right up against the Thanksgiving holiday. And then we'll put in an omnibus, which is a big bill. It's more spending, more grease, more lobbyists, and more special interests. And the big boys will stay in power. And at some point, we've just got to say enough is enough, folks. I hate losing Kevin as a friend, but I worry about losing our country, in all sincerity. We are rapidly approaching that point.

And you know, yesterday, House floor, we got here, we started late. We voted to name a post office. And that's our urgency right now. We're at 42 days. We haven't had a meeting on the budget or anything. We have a Budget Committee. Jodey Arrington out of Texas has a budget. He's given-- he gave us a little 10 minutes in conference and they gave him the golf clap and sent him on his way. And nobody in leadership is talking about a budget. We are going to face financial ruin right now.

And I'll leave you with one thing. When I talked to Kevin the last week, the last thing he said was, I really want to be Speaker. And folks, it's got to be more than that. We have got to save our country. And that's why I'm going to vote the way I am, come hell or high water. I realize I'll catch on all sides and it might cost me my job. But I do honestly, in all sincerity, think this country is worth--