Dem
51
GOP
49
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) dreamed of being Speaker of the House his whole life, the way some boys dream of being an NFL quarterback or a Major League slugger. Kev got a shot at it, but he had the wrong stuff. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) made the job look easy because she was probably the best speaker since Joe Cannon. Pros always make it look easy. McCarthy was not a pro. He couldn't manage the Freedom Caucus and they left him out to dry. He could have told the FC: "Either you obey me or I'll work with the Democrats and pass laws you hate with every ounce of your body. For example, we'll legalize all the 'dreamers.' That's popular with our voters. Understand?" He just didn't have it in him, and they dumped him and humiliated him. Poor Kev. Maybe it was the Peter Principle or something, but he had no business being speaker.
Going back to being a backbencher was simply too humiliating, so he announced yesterday that he plans to resign from the House at the end of this year. His district, CA-20, is R+16, so there is no way it will turn blue. However, if McCarthy stays on the job until after Friday at 5 p.m., Gavin Newsom can keep the seat open until the next scheduled election. If McCarthy formally resigns before 5 p.m. on Friday, Newsom will have to call a special election, but will delay it until the last date allowed by California law to keep the GOP caucus a man short as long as he can. In that case, Newsom has 14 days to schedule the special election and it has to be within 4 months. That could put it in late April or even May. Newsom is in no hurry to put another Republican in the House. And the California SoS, Shirley Weber (D), will probably take her good time certifying the election, to make sure she got the count right. It could be mid-May or later before the new member is sworn in.
In his announcement, in the Wall Street Journal, McCarthy said: "I know my work is only getting started." What work? Is he going to run for president? Maybe he can try his hand at being a lobbyist, but that probably won't go well. Lobbyists' clients want to hire people who still have a lot of clout in Congress. That doesn't apply to him. He has an MBA degree from Cal State Bakersfield. Maybe he can find a job being CEO of a medium-sized company. Or maybe he can find some rich Republican to sponsor him so he can travel around the country recruiting non-MAGA candidates for the House.
Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) still has to pass a bunch of budget bills in January, with increasingly small margins. With "George Santos," McCarthy, and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH) soon out, the House will be 219R, 213D for a while. That's not a big margin to work with, and the speaker has never tried his hand at cat herding before. We wonder how long Johnson will last.
The House will hold a party for McCarthy, but not everyone is going to attend. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) celebrated the news with a single word on his social media site: "McLeavin'." (V)