McCarthy says NO as Speaker

John R. Houk

© October 8, 2015

In case you haven't heard Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) shocked the GOP Establishment by taking his hat OUT of the ring for Speaker of the House. Rep. McCarthy had a reputation of being more RINO than Speaker Boehner. The FireMcCarthy.com website writes this on their main page about Rep. McCarthy:

Rep. Kevin McCarthy is a "nice guy" but that doesn't mean he is qualified or conservative enough to lead the people's House. Just like John Boehner, McCarthy scores terribly with conservatives. 

 o   FreedomWorks gave McCarthy a score of 52. 

 o   Conservative Review gave him a score of 45. 

 o   Madison Project gave him an abysmal 42. 

 He scores worse than former Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who lost his own district. Conservatives haven't forgotten this. If McCarthy is chosen, we'll see that he's fired. Add your name to the list of Americans who Demand a Conservative Speaker. 

Read the Official Release.

 CALL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS - (202) 224-3121

Now I strongly suspect the name of FireMcCarthy.com will change according to whom the GOP Establishment pushes for the next Speaker. I pray that the Republicans can agree on a more principled Conservative that the Establishment can feel they can work. IF NOT, then it may be time to split from or boot out the RINOs to give voters a more reliable choice other than a deceptive Establishment Republican or evil change-America Democrat.

JRH 10/8/15

Please Support SlantRight 2.0

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Kevin McCarthy Drops Out of House Speaker Race: 'It's Best We Have a New Face'

By Rob Bluey

October 08, 2015

Daily Signal

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has ended his bid to become the next speaker of the House of Representatives.

McCarthy, the current GOP majority leader, was the leading candidate among the three Republicans seeking the job. However, he lacked the 218 votes needed to win a vote on the floor after the conservative House Freedom Caucus endorsed Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, is also running for the job.

"I am not the right person to lead at this moment," McCarthy reportedly told his Republican colleagues at a meeting today. He elaborated at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

VIDEO: Watch Rep. Kevin McCarthy speak on dropping out from Speaker's race

Published by PBS NewsHour 

Published on Oct 8, 2015 

 House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy dropped out of the Republican race for Speaker of the House on Thursday and addressed the move at a brief afternoon news conference.

"I don't want make voting for speaker a tough one," McCarthy said. "I don't want to go to the floor and win with 220 votes. I think the best thing for our party right now is that you have 247 votes on the floor. If we are going to be strong, we have to be 100 percent united."

He added, "I just think it's best we have a new face."

Kevin McCarthy ‏@GOPLeaderWe're public servants. I have always put this Conference and Country ahead of myself. We need to unite behind one leader and get to work.

McCarthy's decision forced Republicans to postpone today's speaker election. Speaker John Boehner, who will resign Oct. 30, said in a statement that he would stay on as speaker until a new person is chosen. The speaker does not have to be a member of Congress.

The news apparently stunned members of Congress who were in the room with McCarthy. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., spoke to reporters afterward to explain what happened. Issa said McCarthy would like to remain in his majority leader post.

VIDEO: Rep. Darrell Issa on McCarthy

Published by Heritage Response Room 

Published on Oct 8, 2015

Chaffetz, who currently leads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told reporters he remains a candidate for speaker.

"We need to have a lot more family discussion because we need to find somebody that our whole body can unite behind, and do what we were elected to do," Chaffetz said. "I was absolutely stunned, surprised, and shocked that this happened, but our conference is going to have to do a lot of deep soul-searching and we'll see what happens."

Webster, who has the backing of the 40-member Freedom Caucus, stressed that he would remain committed to improving the way the House operates.

"A lot of members would like to see us modify in some way the rules and then use them," Webster said. "Right now we don't use our rules. We circumvent them every day and that's the problem."

Several Republicans voiced their reaction to the McCarthy news on Twitter:

[Blog Editor: Go to Daily Signal to view the numerous GOP Tweets]

Democrats, who will likely support House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for speaker, used the opportunity to attack their political adversaries.

[Blog Editor: Go to Daily Signal to view the numerous Dem Tweets]

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who was going to nominate McCarthy at today's meeting, reiterated he would not seek the job himself.

Kevin McCarthy is best person to lead the House, and so I'm disappointed in this decision. Now it is important that we, as a Conference, take time to deliberate and seek new candidates for the speakership. While I am grateful for the encouragement I've received, I will not be a candidate. I continue to believe I can best serve the country and this conference as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

Another Republican, Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, said he was uninterested in the job. Gowdy is currently leading the House's Benghazi investigation, which became an issue for McCarthy after he suggested the House investigation had hurt former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's poll numbers. McCarthy apologized for his comments and told reporters Thursday those comments were a factor in his decision.

Yesterday, at the monthly Conversations with Conservatives event on Capitol Hill, The Daily Signal interviewed lawmakers about their expectations for the next speaker:

VIDEO: What 6 House Conservatives Want From Their New Speaker

Published by The Daily Signal 

Published on Oct 7, 2015 

 At the monthly Capitol Hill gathering Conversations with Conservatives, six lawmakers gave their take on the leadership fight and shared what they want from their new speaker.

In the lead up to today's meeting, the Freedom Caucus, which is credited with pressuring Boehner to retire early, vowed to band together as a group and vote for Webster as a powerful voting bloc.

Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., mentioned upon leaving the meeting that "everyone's surprised" and reiterated again that the Freedom Caucus, and other conservatives, are calling for a more open legislative process, where rank-and-file lawmakers could put bills and amendments on the House floor and have a larger say in picking committee chairmen.

"The whole conference was moving toward a better process," Brat said. "Right after John Boehner stepped down the whole conference was moving toward more inclusion of members, chairs that run the meetings, regular order."

"I don't view it that way [as a victory]," he added. "I want the conference and the country to make progress."

Brat noted that several policy issue confront Congress, including a debate over the debt limit, government spending, and Russia's airstrikes in Syria.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, explained why he nominated Webster to speaker.

"It was about principle over power," King said, "It was about overhauling this House, and turning this pyramid of power upside down, and letting the members be in charge, and running things through the regular order."

Another Republican, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, also stressed process over personality.

"[Boehner] became speaker and he became Nancy Pelosi in the way he ran things, not in what he supported, but in the way he ran things," the Texas Republican said. "It was a top down, this is the way we're going to do it."

Gohmert, who challenged Boehner for speaker in January, added, "We need a speaker who allows the Members of the House to participate."

Melissa Quinn and Josh Siegel contributed to this story.

_________________________________

McCarthy says NO as Speaker

John R. Houk

© October 8, 2015

____________________________

Kevin McCarthy Drops Out of House Speaker Race: 'It's Best We Have a New Face'

Rob Bluey is editor in chief of The Daily Signal, the multimedia news organization of The Heritage Foundation. Send an email to Rob.

@RobertBluey

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