Matt Gaetz Laughed at in the House by Colleagues, Video Shows

Members of the House of Representatives reacted with laughter after Matt Gaetz filed a motion to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker, saying it was "becoming increasingly clear" the Republican leader wasn't working on behalf of his party.

Gaetz was infuriated by McCarthy striking a deal with Democrats that narrowly avoided a partial government shutdown, which was voted through both the House and Senate with a bipartisan majority on Saturday.

In response, the Florida Republican filed a motion to vacate the speakership on Monday, meaning a vote will be held in the House on whether McCarthy can retain the speaker's office. If any more than a handful of Republicans rebel, his future will be decided by what position the House Democratic minority decides to take.

Monday's motion brings to a head a long running spat between McCarthy and Gaetz, who was one of the ringleaders of the original effort to prevent the California Republican becoming speaker in January. In a concession designed to increase his support, McCarthy agreed that any one representative could table a motion to vacate, a measure Gaetz is now using.

After Gaetz filed his motion on Monday footage from the House, broadcast by C-Span, picked up a number of representatives laughing.

This was posted on X, formerly Twitter, by the Acyn account which shares video of prominent moments in U.S. politics, where it received over 150,000 views.

The account said: "You can hear laughter after Gaetz finished his statement on the motion to vacate."

This version of events was supported by Jake Sherman, founder of Punchbowl News, who posted: "The Democratic side of the House erupted in laughter as Gaetz left the floor."

Newsweek has reached out to Gaetz for comment via email.

On X, responding to the motion to vacate being tabled, McCarthy posted: "Bring it on." Gaetz responded: "Just did."

Speaking to reporters after filing his motion, Gaetz said: "I have enough Republicans where, at this point next week, one of two things will happen.

"Kevin McCarthy won't be the Speaker of the House, or he'll be the Speaker of the House working at the pleasure of the Democrats, and I'm at peace with either result, because the American people deserve to know who governs them."

Speaking on the House floor earlier, Gaetz said: "It is becoming increasingly clear who the speaker of the House already works for, and it's not the Republican conference."

Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation on Saturday, McCarthy hit back at Gaetz, admitting the standoff between the two Republicans is "personal."

He said: "This is personal with Matt. Matt has voted against the most conservative ability to protect our border, to secure our border.

"He's more interested in securing TV interviews than doing something. He wanted to push us into a shutdown, even threatening his own district, with all the military people there who would not be paid, only because he wants to take this motion."

Motions to vacate the speaker have only been used twice before, in 1910 and 2015. In the latter case it did not come to a vote, but then Republican Speaker John Boehner resigned a few months later anyway after struggling to control his caucus.

Speaking to reporters in Ottumwa, Iowa, on Sunday, former President Donald Trump, frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said it was "too early" for him to decide whether to continue backing McCarthy as speaker.

He commented: "don't know anything about those efforts, but I like both of them very much.

"I think it's too early [to comment], it just happened a little while ago. I've always had a great relationship with [McCarthy], he said very nice things about me and the job I've done, so I appreciate that."