House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries did not directly say how his caucus would vote on the motion to vacate House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, but rather urged Republicans to "break from the extremists, end the chaos."
"Democrats are going to continue to push for people over politics and to fight to make life better for everyday Americans. From the very beginning, that has been our objective. And it will continue to be our sole focus delivering for the American people. We encourage our Republican colleagues who claim to be more traditional to break from the extremists, end the chaos, end the dysfunction, end the extremism," Jeffries said following a House Democratic Caucus meeting.
"We are ready willing and able to work together with our Republican colleagues, but it is on them to join us to move the Congress and the country forward," he said.
Rep. Gerry Connolly told reporters that meeting had "long lines" of members at the mics, waiting to speak about whether to oust McCarthy.
He added that there was "outrage" after the caucus watched a clip from Sunday political shows where McCarthy went after House Democrats for the delay on Saturday over the stopgap funding bill.
Rep. Mark Takano said that over the course of the over-hour-long meeting, Democrat after Democrat rose in support of Jeffries and expressed distrust for McCarthy, although he said no official position had been taken yet.
Rep. Diana DeGette said that that while a decision has not yet been made among Democrats on how they will address the motion to vacate, she said her caucus has "unity of purpose on our side. I think we have tremendous respect for this institution."
"I think what has happened that all of you have witnessed and the American people have witnessed is that the current speaker has chosen to cater to a very extreme element that, in my view, it's sort of a post-truth world, and that he is not trustworthy," she said. "And I think you can see that within his own caucus, but you can certainly see it the way he's treated us and the American people."
When asked if Democrats would help bail McCarthy out, DeGette demurred, saying "I'm gonna let our leadership talk to you about what our decision is."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters that Democrats will not vote to preserve McCarthy's gavel.
"We are following our leader and we are not saving Kevin McCarthy," she said.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren confirmed that they decided in their meeting that they will not move to save him.
