Republicans In Disarray After Kevin McCarthy Drops Out Of Speaker Race

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Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:47 pm

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Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who was the favorite to be the next Speaker of the House, dropped out of the race today after he could not politically recover from letting the truth slip out about the House Republican Benghazi investigation.

According to The Hill:

McCarthy dropped out of the race because he did not believe he could reach the 218 votes needed in a public roll-call vote on the floor later this month to be elected Speaker, according to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who spoke to reporters after the GOP meeting adjourned.

Issa said McCarthy gave that message to his colleagues, and that McCarthy did not believe he could unite the conference.

Kevin McCarthy never recovered from the mistake of admitting on national television that the House Select Committee on Benghazi is an investigation that is designed to bring down Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Every time McCarthy tried to walk back his admission of the truth, he made things worse. The end came for his candidacy to be Speaker when the House Freedom Caucus announced that they would not be supporting his bid to lead the House.

Majority Leader McCarthy appeared to be in way over his head, and he had never secured the 218 votes necessary to be elected Speaker. McCarthy managed to both wreck his party and destroyed his political future in one swoop.

Republicans were in chaos when running for Speaker, but now they are in complete disarray. There is no frontrunner to be Speaker. If Republicans can’t agree on a candidate by October 29, John Boehner will have to stay on because his resignation does not go into effect until after a new Speaker is chosen.

House Republicans are an absolute mess. McCarthy’s decision to drop out has taken poured gasoline on the GOP tire fire.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association