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Days after narrowly averting a government shutdown by striking a secret side-deal with Democrats over Ukraine funding, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) faces the biggest challenge to his Speakership by the same group of House conservatives who delayed his rise to power eight months ago.

On Monday night, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) filed a motion to formally remove McCarthy from his role as speaker – a vote for which McCarthy says he'll get out of the way first thing today, while CNBC says the vote should begin at 2pm ET.

In short, only Democrats may be able to save McCarthy – who says he hasn't made any deals with the Democrats who he says "haven't asked for anything," following a Monday night call with House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) – who will ultimately decide McCarthy's fate.

While the minority party in the House typically doesn't support the majority's choice for speaker, motions to vacate are rare – and this situation hasn't been seen in more than a century.

According to the Guardian, Gaetz and his allies have the votes to remove McCarthy.

"Members should keep their schedules flexible and be prepared to vote at the appropriate time," reads the notice.

Gaetz and his Freedom Caucus allies were livid on Sunday after it emerged that McCarthy had made a secret side-deal with Democrats for more Ukraine funding, in exchange for passage of a continuing resolution that will keep the government running through mid-November.

Developing…