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Kevin McCarthy put in his two-week notice on Tuesday, officially notifying the House of his plan to resign at the end of the year.
“I hereby submit my resignation effective on Dec. 31, 2023, as United States Representative of the 20th District of California,” read out Tylease Alli, a reading clerk of the House of Representatives, from a letter written by McCarthy.
McCarthy said, “It has been the honor of a lifetime to represent the great people and communities of Kern, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Tulare, Fresno and Kings County over the past 17 years, and especially my home town of Bakersfield in the Central Valley of the great state of California.”
Much has been said about the once-high expectations for the ousted speaker’s political career and his inability to meet them. My colleague Mehdi Hasan, for example, compiled this helpful list of McCarthy lowlights leading up to his time as speaker. And indeed, as a self-styled member of the Republican Party’s “Young Guns,” McCarthy was considered a rising star who might wield power in the GOP for years to come. But this young gun is looking more like a water pistol in his final days as a congressman: ineffective and more of an annoyance than an actual (political) force.
McCarthy’s waning days in the House have been riddled with chaos, as befits a man as conniving and craven as he's been over the years. Let’s assess the damage, shall we?
McCarthy’s been marginalized in embarrassing fashion by the House Republican caucus he helped to radicalize. Two Republicans recently accused McCarthy of shoving them in halls of the Capitol (McCarthy denied having done anything deliberately with the extremely mature rejoinder, “If I hit somebody, they would know I hit them”). McCarthy’s twice-impeached, four-times-indicted presidential pick was just barred from the 2024 ballot by Colorado’s Supreme Court, arguably over the illiberalism that McCarthy has helped encourage. McCarthy faced widespread ridicule after sharing a video clip of himself making extremely ignorant claims about U.S. history. The candidate McCarthy handpicked as his successor was just ruled ineligible to run for his seat because that guy is already running in a different race for California assembly. Some Republicans seem convinced McCarthy’s biggest talent — fundraising — is a task that House Speaker Mike Johnson can handle in McCarthy’s absence without too much trouble. And despite McCarthy’s vows to “retire” his nemesis, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, she's going to outlast him in office. McCarthy’s fall from grace has been precipitous. And he’s hit several tree branches on the way down.
Fortunately for him, President Joe Biden’s economy appears to be a job-creating machine! So never fret, Mr. (Former) Speaker. To quote the rapper Biggie Smalls: “Don’t be mad — UPS is hiring!”