Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the former speaker of the House, said that he would be willing to be a consensus contender for speaker if House Republicans can’t agree on who is going to head the body.
In an interview with Hugh Hewitt, a radio broadcaster, McCarthy expressed his willingness to lead the House should Republicans fail to unite around House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) or the House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH).
“Look, that choice has to be made by the conference. I am still a member.” He said, “I’m going to keep fighting and acting.”
It’s still not likely that the Republicans who voted to fire McCarthy will change their minds and try to get him back on the job.
McCarthy was asked if he would be interested in the job if there was a majority vote to make him Speaker again. He said, “Look, whatever the legislative body wants, I’ll do. I believe we must be strong. I believe we should work together. The eight don’t look like they were—it was a personal matter.”
In light of the war between Hamas and Israel, Representatives John Duarte (R-CA) along with Tom McClintock (R-CA) stated that McCarthy needed to be Speaker again.
McCarthy was angry that Republicans wouldn’t vote for a short-term spending bill to keep the government running until November 17. The California Republican McCarthy’s decision to pass the short-term spending bill made many Republicans in the House vote to remove him as Speaker.
The House votes to dismiss Kevin McCarthy as speaker, which is a historic event.
McCarthy stated, “They were the ones who hoped for the government to shut down.”
“We would not be paying our forces while we sent a carrier strike fighter there—30,000 American soldiers and sailors in the Middle East would not be getting paid at this moment? I mean, where would our weakness be?” he asked.
