House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) abruptly dropped out of the race to succeed Speaker John Boehner on Thursday. Boehner is poised to resign at the end of the month.The decision came as House Republicans were in a closed-door meeting to select their nominee for speaker. McCarthy said he would retain his current position as majority leader.
McCarthy’s candidacy ran into trouble last week when he suggested that the House’s select committee on Benghazi was an attempt to hurt Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers. Then, an influential group of conservatives endorsed Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL) on Wednesday this week and put McCarthy’s ability to win the House floor vote later this month in doubt.
“It we’re going to unite and be strong, we need a new face to do that,” McCarthy said, adding that he did not want to win the race on the House floor with only enough votes to squeak by. He apparently had the votes to win the conference vote, but not enough to reach 218 votes that are required to lock down the speakership on the House floor. Boehner said in a statement that he will remain in his post until a new speaker is elected, but he has not yet announced the date for the new vote.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) put his name forward last week into the Speaker’s race and said after the McCarthy announcement that he would continue to campaign for the Speaker post. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, who some considered a contender, immediately stated he was not interested in pursuing the speaker position.
The uncertainty in the House Republican leadership is presenting itself less than a month before Congress is required to take action to raise the debt ceiling to keep the United States from defaulting on its debt obligation. The chaos over the House leadership, and that possibility that the new speaker will be more conservative, could also make it more difficult for the House to approve the Trans Pacific Partnership.
