McCarthy was strongly critical of the Democratic president in a speech that could increase his appeal to hardline conservatives who sought to oust the current speaker, John Boehner, who abruptly announced his resignation on Friday.
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Even though Boehner is staunchly pro-life, opposed to same-sex marriage and has been labeled a hard-core conservative, he was seen by many in his party as too willing to compromise with Democrats. On top of that, McCarthy is viewed suspiciously among some conservatives by virtue of his position in the GOP leadership.
McCarthy, 50, struck a note of internal reconciliation in his letter.
“We can’t ignore the differences that exist, but we can and must heal the divisions in our conference with work, time, and trust”, McCarthy said in his statement. “This is your government, you are in charge and we are here to serve you”, McCarthy said in his announcement. As he is hardly a liberal Republican himself, Boehner’s mistake in his party’s eyes seems to have been nothing more than a willingness to reach across the aisle and negotiate with Democrats in a pragmatic manner. While he spends many of his weekends fundraising for his colleagues and has cultivated congenial relationships with many members, that won’t likely be enough to deliver conservatives’ votes on issues that have once again brought Congress to the brink of a shutdown – issues such as Planned Parenthood funding, raising the debt ceiling and eliminating sequester caps.
“The next speaker is going to have to deal with those who deny basic math”, Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., a leader of the moderate wing, said.
Boehner’s decision to step down rather than face a almost unprecedented floor vote to depose him averted immediate crisis, as the Senate on Monday easily approved legislation to keep the government running, and the House was scheduled to follow suit before a Thursday deadline.
A special House Republican meeting was scheduled for Tuesday evening to discuss the way forward.
National Review: Boehner Resigns as House GOP Turns Its Eyes to Kevin McCarthy – “Both men, House speaker John Boehner and House majority leader Kevin McCarthy, stood behind the pope on Thursday as he prepared to address a joint session of Congress. Boehner cried; McCarthy beamed”.
Webster also would not engage on the topic of the day: a possible government shutdown over GOP demands of stripping federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
The speaker represents his constituents as well as presides over the House and manages administrative duties.
McCarthy has been majority leader since 2014, after Virginia’s Eric Cantor lost his Republican primary and resigned the leader post.
He far as anyone can tell, it looks like John Boehner was essentially miserable most of the time that he held the job as speaker.
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The graphic here includes every House Republican who has distributed at least half a million dollars from his or her leadership PAC over the course of the 2014 and 2016 cycles.
