Breaking: Kevin McCarthy Drops Out of House Speaker Race

by Rob Bluey: Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has ended his bid to become the next speaker of the House of Representatives.

McCarthy, the current GOP majority leader, was the leading candidate among the three Republicans seeking the job. However, he lacked the 218 votes needed to win a vote on the floor after the conservative House Freedom Caucus endorsed Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, is also running for the job.

“I am not the right person to lead at this moment,” McCarthy reportedly told his Republican colleagues at a meeting today. He elaborated at a press conference Thursday afternoon.
“I don’t want make voting for speaker a tough one,” McCarthy said. “I don’t want to go to the floor and win with 220 votes. I think the best thing for our party right now is that you have 247 votes on the floor. If we are going to be strong, we have to be 100 percent united.”

He added, “I just think it’s best we have a new face.”

McCarthy’s decision forced Republicans to postpone today’s speaker election. Speaker John Boehner, who will resign Oct. 30, said in a statement that he would stay on as speaker until a new person is chosen. The speaker does not have to be a member of Congress.

The news apparently stunned members of Congress who were in the room with McCarthy. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., spoke to reporters afterward to explain what happened. Issa said McCarthy would like to remain in his majority leader post.

Chaffetz, who currently leads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told reporters he remains a candidate for speaker. Webster, who has the backing of the 40-member Freedom Caucus, is also still in the race. With the postponement of today’s vote, other candidate may emerge.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who was going to nominate McCarthy at today’s meeting, reiterated he would not seek the job himself.

"Kevin McCarthy is best person to lead the House, and so I’m disappointed in this decision. Now it is important that we, as a Conference, take time to deliberate and seek new candidates for the speakership. While I am grateful for the encouragement I’ve received, I will not be a candidate. I continue to believe I can best serve the country and this conference as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee."

Another Republican, Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, said he was uninterested in the job. Gowdy is currently leading the House’s Benghazi investigation, which became an issue for McCarthy after he suggested the House investigation had hurt former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers. McCarthy apologized for his comments and told reporters Thursday those comments were a factor in his decision.

Yesterday, at the monthly Conversations with Conservatives event on Capitol Hill, The Daily Signal interviewed lawmakers about their expectations for the next speaker:
In the lead up to today’s meeting, the Freedom Caucus, which is credited with pressuring Boehner to retire early, vowed to band together as a group and vote for Webster as a powerful voting bloc.

Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., mentioned upon leaving the meeting that “everyone’s surprised” and reiterated again that the Freedom Caucus, and other conservatives, are calling for a more open legislative process, where rank-and-file lawmakers could put bills and amendments on the House floor and have a larger say in picking committee chairmen.

“The whole conference was moving toward a better process,” Brat said. “Right after John Boehner stepped down the whole conference was moving toward more inclusion of members, chairs that run the meetings, regular order.”

“I don’t view it that way [as a victory],” he added. “I want the conference and the country to make progress.”

Brat noted that several policy issue confront Congress, including a debate over the debt limit, government spending, and Russia’s airstrikes in Syria.

Another Republican, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, also stressed process over personality.

“[Boehner] became speaker and he became Nancy Pelosi in the way he ran things, not in what he supported, but in the way he ran things,” the Texas Republican said. “It was a top down, this is the way we’re going to do it.”

Gohmert, who challenged Boehner for speaker in January, added, “We need a speaker who allows the Members of the House to participate.”
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Rob Bluey (@RobertBluey) is editor in chief of The Daily Signal, the multimedia news organization of The Heritage Foundation. Josh Siegel also contributed to this story.

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