Former Speaker McCarthy has had a rough year. But it just got so much worse.
And Kevin McCarthy revealed tragic news in a bombshell letter to Americans.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced his retirement on Wednesday, saying his “work is only just getting started” in recruiting more Republicans to run for Congress.
McCarthy (R-Calif.), 58, stated in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that 17 years after initially running for government to serve California in the House, he “decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways.”
“I’m an optimist. How could I not be? I’m the son of a firefighter. For 17 years I’ve served in the same congressional seat — the same office in which I was once denied an internship. Only in America,” he wrote.
“I will continue to recruit our country’s best and brightest to run for elected office. The Republican Party is expanding every day, and I am committed to lending my experience to support the next generation of leaders.”
Following the expulsion of lying Rep. George Santos (R-NY) last week, his departure will reduce House Republicans’ majority to two votes.
On Oct. 3, eight Republican legislators, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), voted to remove McCarthy from office, arguing that he had failed to honor the concessions he made with hardliners in order to win the gavel in January.
The charge came after a bipartisan House vote to finance the government at current levels until November 17 — with Gaetz also suggesting McCarthy agreed to a “secret side deal” with President Biden over Ukraine aid.
His expulsion, the first in the lower chamber’s history, sparked weeks of infighting in the Republican caucus as three consecutive candidates failed to succeed the ex-speaker.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) all lost in their aspirations for the speakership.
The squabble exposed profound divisions in the Republican caucus between moderates and conservatives, as holdout votes prevented each speaker nominee from gaining a majority in the House.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), who announced on Tuesday that he will retire at the end of his term next year, was momentarily installed as speaker pro tempore to preside over conference votes, but emphasized that passing legislation in the interim was outside his jurisdiction.
However, the Republican Party subsequently rallied around then-Conference Vice Chairman Mike Johnson (R-La.), elevating him to the speakership in a unanimous floor vote just over three weeks after McCarthy was ousted.
Following his election, Johnson signed two financing bills that extended current government expenditures until January 19, 2024 and February 2, 2024, respectively.
He also pledged to support Kyiv’s war effort against Russia in exchange for border security measures approved by Congress.
McCarthy has often alleged that Gaetz opted to remove him as speaker because he refused to end a House Ethics Committee investigation into the Florida Republican.
The ethics investigation is looking at charges that Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct, illegal drug usage, campaign finance breaches, and maybe took bribes.
The charges come as the hardline congressman is allegedly mulling a run for governor of Florida.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
