Why Matt Gaetz led charge to remove Kevin McCarthy as House speaker

The longstanding feud between Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) goes back much farther than Tuesday’s historic vote to unseat McCarthy as House speaker.

Gaetz has long been McCarthy’s loudest opponent — dramatically voting “present” rather than backing the California Republican’s bid for the gavel in January.

McCarthy has repeatedly claimed Gaetz has borne him a grudge for refusing his demand that McCarthy intervene in an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation.

“He’s blaming me for an ethics complaint against him that happened in the last Congress. I have...