McCarthy withdraws bid for House speaker

He stuns Republicans gathered to vote

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy had been opposed in his bid for the speaker post by a small bloc of hard-line conservatives known as the House Freedom Caucus. He cited the need for unity in his decision to drop out of the race.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy had been opposed in his bid for the speaker post by a small bloc of hard-line conservatives known as the House Freedom Caucus. He cited the need for unity in his decision to drop out of the race.

WASHINGTON -- Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy withdrew Thursday from the contest for speaker of the U.S. House, shocking fellow Republicans just before voting was to begin.

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AP

Rep. Paul Ryan, R- Wis., arrives for a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015, where Republicans were to nominate candidates to replace outgoing House Speaker John Boehner. In a stunning move, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy withdrew his candidacy for House speaker Thursday, throwing Congress' Republican leadership into chaos.

Lawmakers expressed disbelief after McCarthy's announcement, which came moments after they had shown up for a private election that many had predicted would end with McCarthy as their pick.

Two weeks ago outgoing Speaker John Boehner of Ohio announced his plans to resign, also without warning.

Boehner, who planned to leave Oct. 30, said in a statement that he would stay on "until the House votes to elect a new speaker."

In a prepared statement shortly after the Republicans met to vote, McCarthy said: "I have the deepest respect and regard for each member of the conference and our team as a whole. It is imperative for us to unite and work together on the challenges facing our country.

"Over the last week it has become clear to me that our conference is deeply divided and needs to unite behind one leader. I have always put this conference ahead of myself. Therefore, I am withdrawing my candidacy for speaker of the House," the congressman from California said. "For us to unite, we probably need a fresh face."

He said he didn't want to win by eking out victory, because the House needs a speaker with strong GOP support. McCarthy was being opposed by a small bloc of hard-line conservatives, known as the House Freedom Caucus.

Those same lawmakers pushed Boehner to announce his resignation by threatening a floor vote on his position as speaker.

"The establishment has lost two speakers in two weeks. K Street must be shaking in their boots. [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell must be shaking in his boots, too," said Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, referring to a Washington street that is associated with the lobbying industry.

McCarthy said he would stay on as majority leader. The speaker's election was postponed, as may be the scheduled Oct. 29 vote for speaker by the full House, Democrats as well as Republicans.

"Kevin McCarthy is the best person to lead the House, and so I'm disappointed in this decision," said Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the former vice presidential nominee who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

What happens next is unknown. McCarthy was by far the heavy favorite to replace Boehner. Congress is facing major budget deadlines and fiscal decisions.

The Treasury Department has said it will exhaust its authority to borrow money to fund the government Nov. 5. If Congress does not raise or suspend the government's statutory borrowing limit, the government would default on its debt days later, risking economic chaos, soaring interest rates and plunging stock prices.

Then, on Dec. 11, a stopgap spending bill will expire. Without congressional action, much of the government will shut down.

At the White House, presidential spokesman Josh Earnest said it would be easy for Democrats to poke fun at the Republicans' troubles if not for the serious issues Congress faces. He said the next speaker will have to tame a small but vocal group of lawmakers with a strong ideological bent or find a way to "buck up" more mainstream House Republicans.

Earnest expressed the administration's hope that the leadership uncertainty in the House would not make it more difficult for lawmakers to raise the nation's debt ceiling by early November, when the Treasury Department has said the country's authority to borrow runs out.

"That is the responsibility of members of Congress," he said, noting that lawmakers have raised the debt ceiling several times since 2011. "We are hopeful that in spite of this chaos, Republicans and Democrats in the House will do the same thing again," he said.

Other Contenders

One leadership ally, Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio, said McCarthy "didn't see a path to 218" -- the number of votes needed to prevail on the House floor. McCarthy faced opposition from a bloc of 30-plus Freedom Caucus lawmakers who didn't command the numbers to block him in Thursday's secret-ballot elections, but might have prevented him from winning a floor vote later.

There was talk among some lawmakers of elevating a "caretaker" speaker who could serve with consensus support at least for the short term.

The other two announced Republican candidates for speaker -- Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Daniel Webster of Florida -- lack widespread support in the House GOP, although Webster has the backing of the Freedom Caucus.

With his wife by his side Thursday, Chaffetz said he had been shocked by McCarthy's decision.

"I really do believe it is time for a fresh start," Chaffetz said. "That was the whole genesis of my campaign. But we need to have a lot more family discussions, because we need to find somebody that our whole body can unite behind and do what we were elected to do.

"Our conference is going to have to do a lot of soul-searching," he said.

Other lawmakers seemed unsure how to react or what to say as they milled around the lobby of the Longworth Office Building where they had gathered to eat barbecue and were going to vote for a new speaker. Instead, the meeting was adjourned moments after it began with McCarthy making his announcement as his wife and children looked on.

Several Republicans were crying after McCarthy's announcement, lawmakers at the meeting said.

"Disbelief, from the surprise announcement by Boehner to the quick nature of this election to it now being postponed -- it's uncertainty on top of uncertainty," said freshman Rep. Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania. "I've been here nine months, I've never seen anything like this. I'd bet you most other members who have been here 20 or 30 years would say the same thing."

Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas said the announcement came as a surprise.

He said the Republican conference needs to rally around someone.

"There are very critical issues facing our country right now that demand a conference that is on top of its game right now and we aren't," Womack said. "The governing majority is in a bit of a disarray."

He doesn't have a preference among the potential candidates but said he hopes Thursday's events make House Republicans pause to think about who is best to lead the House for the betterment of the country.

"That's what our job is and that is what we should be focusing on," Womack said.

Fellow Arkansas Rep. Rick Crawford said he backs House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, for the job.

"I think he is a guy who can unite the conference, absolutely. So I'm going to support him in that effort," he said.

In a statement, Rep. French Hill of Arkansas said he'll consider the potential candidates as they come forward.

"There are over 240 Republicans in Congress, and I have no doubt we will take this additional time to find a solid conservative who is ready to lead us in our mission to reduce the size of government and promote an economic environment where all Americans can prosper," he said.

Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas said that because the speaker is third in line to the presidency, House Republicans need to make a careful decision.

"We'll have to see who feels led to step up and take on this job," he said. "It's a very important position. It's something that needs to be thought about very seriously."

McCarthy's candidacy for speaker had gotten off to a rough start with a gaffe when he suggested the House's Benghazi committee was set up to drive down Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton's poll numbers, rather than search for the truth about the 2012 attacks in Libya that killed four Americans.

"That wasn't helpful. I could have said it much better," McCarthy told reporters.

He brushed off a suggestion that his decision had anything to do with a letter circulated earlier this week by Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., asserting that any candidate for leadership should withdraw from contention "if there are any misdeeds he has committed since joining Congress that will embarrass himself, the Republican Conference and the House of Representatives if they become public."

Jones has said the letter wasn't directed at anyone in particular. Asked whether it played a role in his decision, McCarthy said: "Nah."

Information for this article was contributed by Erica Werner, Andrew Taylor, Mary Clare Jalonick and Alan Fram of The Associated Press; by Jennifer Steinhauer and David M. Herszenhorn of The New York Times; and by Sarah D. Wire of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

A Section on 10/09/2015

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