
The announcement on Wednesday by U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted, that he will leave Congress at the end of this year caused his fellow Republicans to become concerned about what lay ahead for their fragile and limited majority.
His action coincided with Congress’s ongoing struggles to advance several vital pieces of legislation, such as spending bills for the fiscal year 2024 that Congress needs to approve by January 19 to prevent a partial government shutdown.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, a Christian conservative with limited leadership experience who took over after weeks of acrimonious Republican infighting, faces a dangerous and novel challenge in this role.
McCarthy,58, stated in a Wall Street Journal column, “I have decided to leave the House at the end of this year and serve America in new ways.”
McCarthy, who was removed from office as speaker by conservative Republicans in the first part of October, stated, “It often seems like the more Washington does, the worse America gets.”
The party’s hopes of holding onto the majority in the House next year may be hampered by the departure of the former leader of the party and unstoppable source of campaign funding, who assisted Republicans in seizing control of the House in 2022.
Even though he serves a reliably Republican district in California, his exit will reduce Republicans’ already razor-thin 221-213 majority in the early months of 2019 as they work to prevent a partial government shutdown in mid-January.
A special election called by the governor of California must happen between 126 and 140 days later, according to state law.
McCarthy is the most recent in a string of House Republican departures that may limit Republicans’ ability to pass legislation in the early months of 2024 to just one seat.
‘INTENSELY COMPLEX’
Establishment Republican Representative Mike Simpson stated that McCarthy’s declaration “absolutely” highlighted how challenging it is to lead the Republican majority. He pointed out that eight hardliners who voted with Democrats and made up less than 4% of the party conference were responsible for McCarthy’s removal.
“Any speaker will find it challenging to win over every member of Congress,” the Republican from Idaho stated.
“It might make it a bit harder on Speaker Johnson, trying to keep his majority,” Simpson stated.
Representative Dusty Johnson, a Republican, stated that McCarthy’s exit highlights the party’s loss of creative thinkers at a time when House Republicans must reach a compromise with the White House and Senate, which are led by Democrats.
“We have fewer all-stars on the field because we don’t have enough experienced strategic thinkers here. That will be painful,” Johnson remarked.
After entering the House in 2007 and working his way up through the party leadership ranks McCarthy began a brief but eventful term as the top Republican in Congress. He was one of the so-called “young guns,” a rising generation of Republicans that also included former Speaker Paul Ryan.
Stormy relations with Republican hardliners, who made him sit through fifteen humiliating floor votes before taking the gavel last January, characterized his tenure as speaker.
On October 3, McCarthy was ousted by hardliners for his support of a bipartisan spending bill that prevented a government shutdown.
One of the eight Republicans who removed McCarthy, Representative Ken Buck, described the former speaker’s departure as “a good decision” for him and his family. “No, no, no,” was Buck’s response when asked if he felt bad about the vote.
Following weeks of Republican infighting during which three more experienced candidates were nominated and later rejected, McCarthy was replaced by Johnson.
He gained the wrath of hardliners earlier this year when he and Democratic President Joe Biden worked out an agreement that prevented a U.S. debt default and established a $1.59 trillion budget ceiling for the 2024 fiscal year. Hardliners obstructed the House floor for several days due to the spending agreement, but they have subsequently declared their approval of it.
McCarthy was the first speaker of the US House to be removed from office. However, he will follow Ryan and John Boehner as the third Republican speaker to resign from office after a string of disagreements with the hard-right faction of the party.
McCarthy easily won reelection in 2022, and the three major nonpartisan election forecasters do not believe his California district is competitive.