New York Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Nicole Malliotakis react to ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy
NEW YORK -- Members of Congress from New York had a lot to say following the dismissal of Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House on Tuesday.
Democrat Jerrold Nadler and Republican Nicole Malliotakis each spoke to CBS New York during the News at 5 & 6 p.m.
Nadler explained why Democrats did not want to rescue McCarthy.
"Well, Kevin McCarthy has proven time and again that he's untrustworthy. He lies all the time," Nadler said. "That was the basic reason. He has lied to us about everything. He has been totally inconsiderate of the Democrats. Last week, when he came up with that resolution, it was a 71-page resolution, and we asked him for 90 minutes to read it and he said no. ... He has proven time and again that he cannot be believed."
READ MORE: Kevin McCarthy has been ousted as speaker of the House. Here's what happens next
Nadler, who represents central Manhattan, said Democrats in the House made a deal with McCarthy and the Senate on levels of spending back when Congress addressed the debt ceiling in May, "and he has reneged on it totally."
CBS New York asked the veteran lawmaker if at some point Democrats will have to make a deal with Republicans to avoid a longer-term period of paralysis in government.
"I can't say what the possibilities are," Nadler said. "We're going to have a caucus tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock. We'll start figuring out what we can do. For the time being, certainly, we're going to do what we always do, and that is vote for our leader, Hakeem Jeffries, as speaker, and what will be down the road, I cannot say at this point."
Staten Island Rep. Malliotakis said she was against the idea of ousting McCarthy.
"I think it is a sad day. There was no good reason to remove Speaker McCarthy," Malliotakis said. "The reason why Matt Gaetz chose to go after him -- and Matt Gaetz is a right wing extremist -- is simply because they had personal differences, and (McCarthy) worked in a bipartisan manner to prevent a debt default earlier this year and to also make sure we didn't have a shutdown. We tried to pass a conservative package last week that would have eliminated wasteful spending and also secured the border, but Matt Gaetz decided to choose the Democrats and vote with them to kill it. So, we had no choice other than to work across the aisle to ensure that the government stayed open.
"I don't think McCarthy should be punished for that. He should have been thanked for averting something detrimental that would have left our troops without payment, our American citizens without programs working," Malliotakis added.
McCarthy said later Tuesday he would not run for the leadership position again.
"I may have lost the vote today, but as I walk out of this chamber I feel fortunate to have served the American people," McCarthy told reporters. "I leave the speakership with a sense of pride, accomplishment and, yes, optimism."
Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, who was appointed speaker pro tempore, told lawmakers at a meeting that a candidate forum is expected Oct. 10, and a potential vote would be Oct. 11, according to Rep. Bob Good of Virginia.