Republican Kevin McCarthy of California abruptly withdrew on Thursday from the race to succeed Speaker John A. Boehner, blindsiding his House Republican colleagues and throwing their already tumultuous chamber into deeper chaos with no clear leader in sight just weeks before a series of high-stakes fiscal battles.
As lawmakers ate barbecue and sipped sodas during what was expected to be a pro forma vote to select McCarthy as their nominee, he did an about-face, saying that he had concluded he could not unite the increasingly fractious Republican majority.
“I am not that guy,” said McCarthy, with his wife and family by his side, according to members who were in the room. Moments later, Boehner, who learned of McCarthy’s decision only minutes before he announced it, declared the vote postponed and the meeting adjourned even though there were two other candidates in the running, underscoring the weakness of the field.
Some Republicans, including Boehner and McCarthy, are pressing Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, the party’s nominee for vice president in 2012, to step up. Ryan, however, has repeatedly said he does not want the job, a point he reiterated Thursday even before his colleagues left the meeting.
“I have spent more time trying to talk him into running than I did my wife into marrying me,” Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina said. “Twenty-six years later, she’s still with me. I am just asking Paul for 14 months.”
McCarthy’s decision leaves the House rudderless just weeks before the Treasury Department faces a debt default that could roil markets, and two months before a deadline for a budget deal to avoid another government shutdown. But it also represents another victory for the clutch of unyielding hard-line conservatives who toppled the ambitions of yet another member of the party leadership.
The turmoil in the House only added to the uncertainty for the Republican Party, which is also dealing with a contentious presidential primary campaign in which obstreperous outsiders continue to ride the Tea Party swell against establishment politicians. While the presidential race has many months to sort itself out, House Republicans have little time to spare to restore order.
After McCarthy’s announcement, many visibly shaken and nearly speechless Republicans emerged from a large hearing room in the Capitol complex. The acoustics inside were so poor that some had failed to fully take in what had happened: The man with the most votes to become the next speaker had just given up on what was once the most desired job in the House.
“The first reaction was ‘Wow!’ or ‘What did he say?’” Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., said. “The next reaction was: Let me sit down and process this while eating lunch at the same time, because this was a shock, a surprise.”
Rather than moving to vote on other announced candidates, Boehner said the ballot should be postponed and asked unanimous consent to adjourn — with no obvious path forward as Congress heads for a weeklong recess. — New York Times News Service
