McCarthy Says He ‘Loved Every Minute’ Of His 269 Days As Speaker

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) spoke to reporters just hours after being removed as speaker of the House on Tuesday, telling reporters he “loved” his tenure as speaker, which lasted 269 days.

The former speaker was ousted after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) filed a motion to vacate the chair, thus triggering a vote of the full House as to the fate of McCarthy’s future. Just eight Republicans voted to remove McCarthy, but with 208 Democrats also voting in favor, the motion carried.

McCarthy recalled being rejected for an internship at the congressional office he was later elected to.

“I got elected to the seat I couldn’t get an internship for,” he said. “I ended up being the 55th speaker of the House – one of the greatest honors. I loved every minute. And the one thing I will tell you is, doing the right thing isn’t always easy, but it is necessary. I don’t regret standing up for choosing governance over grievance. It is my responsibility, it is my job. I do not regret negotiating. Our government is designed to find compromise. I don’t regret my efforts to build coalitions and find solutions. I was raised to solve problems, not create them. So I may have lost the vote today. But as I walk out of this chamber, I feel fortunate to have served the American people.”

The House is currently speaker-less and has adjourned until next week. Looming over the coming speakership battle is a potential government shutdown in mid-November. Over the weekend, McCarthy managed to broker a short-term funding deal to avert a shutdown at the end of September. Gaetz was especially irked that McCarthy needed Democratic votes to pass the measure. In January, Gaetz withdrew his opposition to McCarthy’s speakership bid on the 15th ballot, allowing him to ascend to the position.

Watch above via CNN.