Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) congressional resignation became official Sunday, on the last day of 2023, leaving the House Republicans with and even more difficult razor-thin majority to traverse in 2024.
In early December, McCarthy announced in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that he would be leaving Congress later in the month, opting not to finish out his term as a rank and file member of the House.
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“It is in this spirit that I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways. I know my work is only getting started,” he wrote at the time.
The move was not unexpected as the California Republican had held off on revealing his future plans after being unceremoniously ousted from his speaker position by eight renegade Republican members.
Of the motion to vacate the speakership, filed by fellow Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and the chaotic series of speaker nominees and votes held following, McCarthy told the Washington Examiner in a farewell interview, “In the end, history will write what’s true.”
“We all know it’s the ethics complaint on Gaetz. He’s doing everything to make sure it doesn’t come out, and that means he doesn’t care about anything else,” he said.
During his farewell floor speech earlier this month, McCarthy didn’t express any regret for his decisions while speaker. “I would do it all again,” he claimed.
Newly minted Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) responded to McCarthy’s decision following his initial announcement, writing on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, “Kevin served the American people and his constituents in California’s Central Valley with honor for nearly two decades.”
“As the Republican Leader, he helped secure the House Republican majority twice, and as Speaker he led the People’s House in its return to regular order after Pelosi’s Covid lockdowns. Kevin and Judy have served faithfully and sacrificed substantially for the good of our country and our cause, and Kelly and I wish them the very best in their next endeavors,” he said.
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Johnson will grapple with an even smaller majority than McCarthy did upon the latter’s departure. The California Republican’s decision to resign now leaves the ratio at 220 Republicans to 213 Democrats. In the case of partisan votes going forward, Republicans will only be able to afford to lose the support of three members.
And with the laddered continuing resolution approach taken by the new speaker, which pushed key appropriations deadlines into the early days of 2024, such a tight margin for victory could become his downfall.
