McCarthy Denies Reports He Plans to Resign: ‘I’m Still Here, Finishing My Job’

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

The fate of former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) over the past few days has seemed to take as many twists and turns as his rocky climb to his position leading the House Republican caucus.

On Friday, multiple media outlets reported he intended to resign his seat before the end of his term — only for McCarthy himself to contradict that with an on-the-record comment to a local California reporter.

The news of McCarthy’s intention to resign was first reported by Politico’s Olivia Beavers, who cited two sources familiar with McCarthy’s plans.

Friday afternoon, CNN confirmed Politico’s reporting. CNN anchor Pamela Brown reported that sources had told her and Capitol Hill reporter Melanie Zanona that McCarthy did intend to resign early. Zanona noted that even after resigning, McCarthy “could still be involved politically as someone who is a strong fundraiser and very plugged in to Republican politics.”

Then, KTLA California Capitol reporter Eytan Wallace posted on The Platform Formerly Known as Twitter that McCarthy had “personally confirmed” with a local Bakersfield television station “that he has no intentions of resigning” from his House seat.

“To the contrary, McCarthy said he intends to run for re-election,” Wallace added.

“Of course, things could change…BUT the above tweet is where McCarthy says he stands right now,” he wrote in a follow up tweet.

McCarthy himself spoke to reporters while standing in front of the vestibule to his former office — the well-known wooden sign still bearing his name visible in the background — and reiterated that he was not going to resign and would run for re-election.

“I’m still here, finishing my job, alright,” said McCarthy. In response to a reporter’s question about if he would run for re-election next year as well, he replied, “Yes, yes, yes.”

McCarthy was ousted from his position on Tuesday by a small group of hardline Republicans led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who were angered by the deal the California representative cut with Democrats to pass a stopgap spending bill and avoid a government shutdown, among other intraparty disputes.

The ex-Speaker has said he does not intend to make another attempt to wield the gavel — the memory of the excruciating fifteen rounds of votes it took him to win it in January is undoubtedly still a raw wound — but the news he might forgo running for re-election on the November 2024 ballot and even resign before the end of his term was new Friday.

According to Beavers’ report, her two sources told her McCarthy “has made clear he plans to stay at least through the speakership election that begins next week before ending his House career…in order to help the party steady itself after a seismic shakeup.”

McCarthy reportedly told his fellow Republicans “I’m going to spend time with my family” during a closed-door meeting shortly after the vote to oust him as speaker, but the meeting was predictably contentious and his words “were largely drowned out by lawmakers’ shouting.”

Despite McCarthy’s comments, some House Republicans “are reviving his name as a speaker candidate,” Beavers added, under the theory that even Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Steve Scalise (R-LA), the current frontrunners to next take the gavel, may still face an unsurmountable climb to get the 218 GOP votes needed.

One House Republican willing to go on the record is Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), McCarthy’s fellow Californian. In an official statement released by his office, McClintock blasted Gaetz and the other Republican rebels, saying that they “stole” the decision of who should serve as speaker from the Republican majority.

“Each day that goes by without a Speaker, the House is paralyzed to act on the dangers bearing down on us,” McClintock continued. “Each day brings us closer to a power-sharing arrangement that will move the House sharply to the left and eliminate the only political counterweight in our elected government to the woke left.”

He expressed his worries that any new candidate for speaker who continues to be elected under the strict demands of the hardline caucus — presumably including the ability to call for a motion to vacate by only one member — “will be captive to the whims of any five members with a grievance on any particular day” and “would be unstable, weak and transient.”

“The only workable outcome is to restore Kevin McCarthy as Speaker under party rules that respect and enforce the right of the majority party to elect him,” McClintock concluded. “This depends entirely on several of the dissidents to disenthrall themselves from their decision and to repair the damage before it is too late. I appeal to them to act while there is still time.”

McClintock does have some support for his call to revise the rules. The Messenger’s Congress reporter Lindsey McPherson posted a letter signed by 94 House Republicans calling for “a special organizational meeting” to amend the House GOP Conference Rules “to temporarily raise the threshold needed to elect a Speaker.” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), a vocal critic of Gaetz’s role in defenestrating McCarthy, is the first signature.

This is a breaking news story and has been updated.

Watch above via CNN.