Hardline Republicans seek to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy

A hardline Republican says he will seek to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week, after he pushed through a last-minute spending bill with support from the opposition Democrats.

Mr McCarthy submitted the bill - aimed at averting a government shutdown - in defiance of the right of his party.

They had already vowed to topple him if he tried to overcome their opposition with Democratic support.

Hardline Republicans in both houses of Congress voted against the motion.

Republicans control the House of Representatives, with Democrats enjoying a wafer-thin majority in the Senate.

On Sunday, Rep Matt Gaetz vowed to oust Mr McCarthy, telling the CNN that House Republicans needed "trustworthy" leadership.

"I do intend to file a motion to vacate against Speaker McCarthy this week," said Mr Gaetz, long a vocal critic of the Californian congressman. "I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy."

The Florida Congressman, who is among the party's most right-wing members and a keen ally of former President Donald Trump, has been threatening to force a vote on Mr McCarthy's future for weeks.

Along with other hard-right Republicans in the so-called Freedom Caucus, Mr Gaetz refused to back successive budgets proposed by Mr McCarthy, insisting on heavy spending cuts and an end to new military aid to Ukraine.