Zach Crawford
Kevin McCarthy (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy announced on Wednesday that he will resign at the end of this month, a year before the end of his term, and that he will not run for Congress again. Until the beginning of October, McCarthy was Speaker of the House, a role similar to our Speaker of the House but more practical: On October 3, he was removed from office after approving a motion put forward by Matt Gaetz, who belongs to the Labor Party. More radical than the Republican Party (conservative, right-wing).
McCarthy, 58 years old, has been a member of Congress from California since 2007, and has announced his intention to leave Congress with… An article about Wall Street Journal“I want to serve the United States in a different way. I know that my work has just begun.” Over the years, McCarthy has been very close to the positions of Donald Trump, but in recent months the more extreme wing of Republicans has accused him of not being extreme enough, in particular of collaborating with the (liberal) Democratic Party in the United States. President Joe Biden to approve the budget and avoid a shutdown and obstruction of federal government activities. His dismissal was the first in the history of the House of Representatives, and opened a long crisis within the Republican Party, which is increasingly influenced by the more extremist wing.
California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, will have to schedule a byelection to replace him: until then, his seat will remain vacant and will reduce the Republican majority in the House, which is already very narrow (there will be 220 Republican representatives). versus 213 Democrats). In recent days, Republicans lost another seat, which also became vacant, after the expulsion of Jorge Santos, who was charged in recent months with a series of crimes of fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and false advertising. McCarthy’s retirement comes one day after the announcement of the appointment of Patrick McHenry, who temporarily replaced him as speaker in October. McHenry announced that he will not run for re-election in 2024.
Laurence Malcom
