Multiple Republican lawmakers tell Axios that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will vacate his long-held congressional seat before the end of the year.
McCarthy has reportedly gone so far as to privately tell donors that he intends to “get the hell out” of Congress, eroding the GOP's already tenuous House majority.
“I have another week or so to decide because if I decide to run again, I have to know in my heart I'm giving 110%,” McCarthy told New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin at Wednesday's DealBook Summit in Manhattan. “I have to know that I want to do that,” McCarthy continued. “I also have to know if I'm going to walk away, that I'm going to be fine with walking away. And so I'm really taking this time now.”
Speculation about McCarthy's future soared after he posted a photo inside his district office with what appeared to be moving kits.
Axios continues, noting the escalating tensions between himself and the eight Republicans who voted him out of the speaker's office:
The former speaker refers to those who voted to strip him from his gavel as the “crazy eight.” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) recently accused McCarthy of elbowing him in a narrow hallway of the Capitol, which McCarthy has denied.
Some rank-and-file members voiced frustrations with McCarthy attempting to “kneecap” multiple candidates that aimed to succeed him as speaker, arguing that the efforts minimized much of the sympathy he gained after the initial ouster.
“The image in the rearview mirror is getting smaller by the day,” one lawmaker said of McCarthy's influence over the conference. “I don't think he's having a good time being a regular Joe.”
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“I can't really imagine that Kevin really wants to stick around. I'll support him with whatever he wants to do,” one lawmaker told Axios, adding that he “decentralized power” and “did a lot of really good things he doesn't get nearly enough credit for.”
“I mean, why the hell would he stay?,” one Republican lawmaker opined. “Damn shame,” quipped another.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R), who lead the intra-party rebellion against McCarthy, had another take: “I suspect the former speaker will return to spend more time with the people he's always represented – on Wall Street and K Street. I don't imagine he'll be walking the streets of Bakersfield.”
Some Republicans privately fear McCarthy will use his war chest to influence the primaries of Republicans that voted for his historic ouster.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) would almost certainly hold a special election if McCarthy departs before the end of his term.
Although he represents a GOP stronghold that's unlikely to flip, an early retirement by the Bakersfield Republican will leave the GOP with one of the smallest majorities in congressional history.
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