Feud between Mace and Mills flares as the Republicans trade barbs, expulsion threats

By Sarah Ferris, Ellis Kim, CNN

(CNN) — A deeply personal grudge between a pair of Republicans — Reps. Cory Mills of Florida and Nancy Mace of South Carolina — has escalated on Capitol Hill, as Mills accused his long-time foe of trying to profit off efforts to oust him.

The spat between the two firebrand conservatives is gaining traction in the halls of Congress and online among the MAGA base at a precarious time for President Donald Trump’s party. GOP leadership is already struggling to keep its razor-thin majority on track to advance key priorities — and needs every one of its Republican seats.

While Mills and Mace have traded personal barbs for years, some of their more serious threats in recent days could jeopardize the fragile GOP unity in Congress. The two have floated bringing dueling expulsion measures — the most severe consequence possible for a member of Congress — in direct defiance of GOP leaders’ pleas to keep the peace in their party.

Speaker Mike Johnson, who governs the House with just a two-vote margin, made clear to reporters Monday evening that he did not support members of his party going after each other.

“It is not something I encourage, no. Look, we have a process here,” Johnson said, adding later: “So no, I’m not in favor.”

Mills has since backed down from his threat to force an ouster vote against Mace — but Mace has only appeared to embrace the stand-off, telling CNN: “Bring it on.” If a vote takes place, it could cause ugly divisions in the narrowly divided House GOP, with significant implications for Johnson’s tiny majority.

Asked about Mace’s expulsion push on Tuesday, Mills dismissed it as “political theatrics for fundraising,” lashing out at Mace for singling him out for allegations that he said have never been proven by a court or an independent watchdog.

He went directly after the congresswoman, calling her out for “always creating drama” with the intent of raising money, but then not following through with her threats. Mace is currently threatening to force a vote to expel Mills on the floor, but she has not yet triggered it.

“If you’re going to file a resolution, why not call it a privileged motion where you can actually put it on the floor for a vote? Why just fundraise off of it?” Mills said of Mace.

CNN has reached out to Mace for comment on the fundraising allegation.

A Defiant Mills says he won’t resign

Mills told CNN on Tuesday he would not resign from Congress, despite calls from some in his own party to step down amid questions over sexual misconduct and other allegations.

“There’s absolutely no reason to resign,” he told CNN, adding that Johnson has told him in conversations not to. “He told me not to resign, and he told me that this is why we have this process.”

The speaker would not confirm the exchange directly, but he insisted Mills should be afforded due process.

“Cory Mills is going through the same due process that was afforded to Cherfilus-McCormick and anyone else who has allegations made against them,” the speaker said. “I’ve asked and answered this question a thousand times. He is in the middle of an Ethics Committee process and so everyone is due the opportunity to present their defenses and go through that.”

He also wouldn’t say directly whether he will support Mills’ reelection bid, though he noted he views himself “in charge” of reelecting GOP incumbents.

“He’s an incumbent and I’m in charge of getting all the incumbents — Republican incumbents reelected, and so – of course, that was all done well before any of these allegations were coming out. But he has the right to answer to the allegations, and that’s what they’re doing,” Johnson said.

He said he would no longer comment on Mills, telling reporters, “I’m done commenting on it. I can’t. The speaker of the House does not put a thumb on the scale for the Ethics Committee investigation.”

The Ethics Committee is currently looking into multiple allegations made against Mills, including campaign finance violations and sexual misconduct. The Florida congressman has also been under investigation by DC police for allegedly assaulting an individual. He was also previously ordered by a judge not to have any contact with an ex-girlfriend, who accused the congressman of having threatened to release sexually explicit images and videos of her after their relationship ended.

Mills has repeatedly denied all of the allegations against him, remaining defiant amid renewed scrutiny.

“I can tell you that there’s no open criminal or civil case against me, nothing. I’ve never been arrested and/or charged with anything that’s criminal and or civil. I have no federal indictments or anything for alleged federal fraud. … And I’ve never had any type of sexual misconduct or inappropriate behavior that involves staff or Hill and things like this,” the Florida congressman said Tuesday of the myriad allegations he’s facing.

It’s not clear yet whether Mace’s push will meet the high bar for expulsion, which requires two-thirds of members to support it. But some key Republicans told CNN on Tuesday they’re not ruling it out.

GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert left the door open to voting to expel Mills, one of the remaining lawmakers under review by the House Ethics Committee following a series of resignations in the past week. She told CNN that she would want to weigh the details of a resolution to expel him if it comes to the floor.

Mills repeatedly bristled at being lumped together with the three lawmakers who recently resigned from the House in disgrace — former Reps. Eric Swalwell, Tony Gonzales, and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick — and who faced calls for their expulsion this month before they stepped down.

He argued the investigation is different and stressed that he is fully cooperating with the House Ethics Committee.

“This is political tit for tat. If one goes, they want another one to go. I’m not in the category of Swalwell, a Gonzales, and or a Cherfilus-McCormick,” he said.

He added that he and his lawyers have so far turned over many “documents” to the ethics panel but did not have any insight into how much longer that probe could last.

“Whether you’re the speaker, minority leader, whatever, no one has that level of visibility. All I can say is, everything they’ve asked of us, we’ve compiled,” he said.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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CNN’s Manu Raju, Alison Main, Kendall Wright and Arpita Dasika contributed to this report.