Connect with us

Politics

Kevin McCarthy will retire from Congress at end of year

Published

on

Kevin McCarthy will retire from Congress at end of year

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will not seek another term in Congress, ending a tumultuous two-decade career in public office that was marked by a swift ascent and descent in Washington GOP leadership. He said he would leave the House by the end of the year.

McCarthy announced his decision days before the state’s deadline to file to run again for his Bakersfield-based seat — and just nine weeks after bitter infighting among House Republicans led to his historic Oct. 3 ouster from the leadership post. His departure opens the door for what could become a contested House race in California’s heavily Republican Central Valley.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, McCarthy lauded his record: serving as his party’s whip, majority leader and speaker and diversifying the House GOP conference. “It is in this spirit that I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways,” he wrote. “I know my work is only getting started.”

“My story is the story of America. For me, every moment came with a great deal of devotion and responsibility,” McCarthy said in a video announcement. “Giving my best to all of you has been my greatest honor.”

Advertisement

McCarthy’s retirement from Congress continues the steep decline of California’s political power in Washington, where just a handful of lawmakers from the state remain in leadership posts. The delegation lost decades of experience and seniority with Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s death in September. San Francisco’s Rep. Nancy Pelosi stepped down from the House’s Democratic leadership in January. Only two Californians remain in leadership positions: Reps. Pete Aguilar of Redlands, chair of the Democratic Caucus; and Ted Lieu of Torrance, the Democrats’ vice chair.

McCarthy’s retirement is also a blow to GOP fundraising efforts. Last election cycle, he helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars for Republican campaigns. On Wednesday, some lawmakers lauded McCarthy’s tenure. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, once McCarthy’s Republican counterpart in the upper chamber, said the Californian’s constituents “were fortunate to have such an optimistic doer represent them for 17 years.”

“I am proud of the work we accomplished together in the Capitol, and I wish him the very best as he writes a new chapter,” McConnell added on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Not all of McCarthy’s colleagues are sad to see him go. Florida Republican Matt Gaetz was leader of the eight hard-right lawmakers who forced McCarthy out as speaker with the help of Democratic votes. The group had griped that McCarthy worked too closely with Democrats to suspend the nation’s debt ceiling and avert a government shutdown.

McCarthy’s reliance on bipartisanship to advance legislation near the end of his career stands in contrast to the partisanship he demonstrated when he first came to Washington in 2007.

Advertisement

The Californian was elected to his House seat in 2006, and quickly climbed the ranks of his party’s leadership after demonstrating his fundraising prowess. His first bid for the speakership, in 2015, collapsed in part because more-conservative tea party Republicans withheld their support.

After he courted the far right and became an ardent backer of then-President Trump ahead of the 2018 midterm election, McCarthy was elected leader of the House’s GOP minority.

But even after Republicans reclaimed the House in the 2022 midterm election, McCarthy struggled to secure the speakership, the chamber’s top post. In January, he needed 15 tries to win enough votes from his party to clinch the speaker’s gavel. In exchange for their votes, he agreed to make it easier for any lawmaker to call for a vote on removing him.

As speaker, McCarthy scored few victories for his party. He opened an impeachment inquiry against President Biden at the behest of far-right Republicans, but he never wielded the power that past speakers such as Pelosi had. He was unable to rally his steeply divided conference on an array of issues, forcing him to rely on Democrats’ votes to suspend the nation’s debt ceiling in May and avert a government shutdown in September.

It was these moves that enraged Gaetz and other GOP rebels. Once ousted, McCarthy declined to run for speaker again, and the party finally settled on Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson after weeks of infighting.

Advertisement

Johnson has also struggled to unify the Republican caucus — he relied on Democratic votes to avert a government shutdown in mid-November — but GOP hard-liners have so far mostly spared him their wrath.

The GOP’s October civil war took a toll on the party, though, with the infighting repeatedly spilling over in public. Last month, a Tennessee Republican who had voted to oust McCarthy accused the former speaker of elbowing him in a Capitol Hill hallway. (McCarthy denied the accusation, but a reporter present at the exchange backed the Tennessean’s account.)

The internal tumult also prompted some high-profile departures.

Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.), a close McCarthy ally who served as interim speaker after the Californian’s ouster, said Tuesday he would leave at the end of his term. Like McCarthy, McHenry was among a new generation of ambitious House conservatives who sought to lead the Republican Party in the last decade.

Also like McCarthy, former GOP House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia and former House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin eventually saw themselves outmatched by the rambunctious far-right of the GOP, which rejects almost any deal making with Democrats.

Advertisement

McCarthy’s retirement “is another sign that [President] Trump has dramatically changed the GOP and its possible leaders,” Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, told The Times in an email. Tobias surmised McCarthy is leaving Washington “because he has a better offer of more rewarding challenges than fighting the political wars that are consuming the House and the nation.”

McCarthy’s departure will also further narrow the GOP’s majority.

The House expelled New York Republican George Santos last week, and a special election to fill his seat won’t be held until February. The combination of Santos’ expulsion and McCarthy’s departure at the end of this year will leave Republicans with just a three-seat majority in the chamber, making it even more challenging for Johnson to lead his fractured conference.

House Republicans will need to work with the Democratic-controlled Senate and President Biden again next month if they hope to avert a government shutdown.

“I can assure you Republican voters didn’t give us the majority to crash the ship,” Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X, shortly after McCarthy announced his departure. “Hopefully no one dies.”

Advertisement

Gaetz, who orchestrated McCarthy’s ouster, on Wednesday knocked the Californian for not finishing his term and leaving the GOP with an even slimmer majority. For all of Pelosi’s “flaws,” Gaetz said, she stayed in Congress after leaving the speaker’s chair, abiding by a 2018 agreement to make way for the next generation of leaders.

McCarthy’s retirement “is not an act of patriotism or moving on to the next fight,” Gaetz said. “It is an act of abject selfishness and it is revealing that if Kevin McCarthy can’t swing the gavel and be in charge and make the decisions, that he’s not willing to be a team player.”

A special election, scheduled by Gov. Gavin Newsom, to fill McCarthy’s seat is expected next year. Two prominent Republicans who could jump into this race include state Sen. Shannon Grove and Assemblymember Vince Fong.

Newsom spokeswoman Erin Mellon told The Times the governor has not yet set a date.

Advertisement

Politics

Video: Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows

Published

on

Video: Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows

new video loaded: Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows

transcript

transcript

Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows

Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota abandoned his re-election bid to focus on handling a scandal over fraud in social service programs that grew under his administration.

“I’ve decided to step out of this race, and I’ll let others worry about the election while I focus on the work that’s in front of me for the next year.” “All right, so this is Quality Learing Center — meant to say Quality ‘Learning’ Center.” “Right now we have around 56 kids enrolled. If the children are not here, we mark absence.”

Advertisement
Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota abandoned his re-election bid to focus on handling a scandal over fraud in social service programs that grew under his administration.

By Shawn Paik

January 6, 2026

Continue Reading

Politics

Pelosi heir-apparent calls Trump’s Venezuela move a ‘lawless coup,’ urges impeachment, slams Netanyahu

Published

on

Pelosi heir-apparent calls Trump’s Venezuela move a ‘lawless coup,’ urges impeachment, slams Netanyahu

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A San Francisco Democrat demanded the impeachment of President Donald Trump, accusing him of carrying out a “coup” against Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.

California state Sen. Scott Wiener, seen as the likely congressional successor to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, also took a swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Wiener has frequently drawn national attention for his progressive positions, including his legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom designating California as a “refuge” for transgender children and remarks at a San Francisco Pride Month event referring to California children as “our kids.”

In a lengthy public statement following the Trump administration’s arrest and extradition of Maduro to New York, Wiener said the move shows the president only cares about “enriching his public donors” and “cares nothing for the human or economic cost of conquering another country.”

Advertisement

KAMALA HARRIS BLASTS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S CAPTURE OF VENEZUELA’S MADURO AS ‘UNLAWFUL AND UNWISE’

California State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, speaks at a rally. (John Sciulli/Getty Images)

“This lawless coup is an invitation for China to invade Taiwan, for Russia to escalate its conquest in Ukraine, and for Netanyahu to expand the destruction of Gaza and annex the West Bank,” said Wiener, who originally hails from South Jersey.

He suggested that the Maduro operation was meant to distract from purportedly slumping poll numbers, the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents, and to essentially seize another country’s oil reserves.

“Trump is a total failure,” Wiener said. “By engaging in this reckless act, Trump is also making the entire world less safe … Trump is making clear yet again that, under this regime, there are no rules, there are no laws, there are no norms – there is only whatever Trump thinks is best for himself and his cronies at a given moment in time.”

Advertisement

GREENE HITS TRUMP OVER VENEZUELA STRIKES, ARGUES ACTION ‘DOESN’T SERVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE’

In response, the White House said the administration’s actions against Maduro were “lawfully executed” and included a federal arrest warrant.”

“While Democrats take twisted stands in support of indicted drug smugglers, President Trump will always stand with victims and families who can finally receive closure thanks to this historic action,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.

Supporters of the operation have pushed back on claims of “regime change” – an accusation Wiener also made – pointing to actions by Maduro-aligned courts that barred top opposition leader María Corina Machado from running, even as publicly reported results indicated her proxy, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the vote.

“Trump’s illegal invasion of Venezuela isn’t about drugs, and it isn’t about helping the people of Venezuela or restoring Venezuelan democracy,” Wiener added. “Yes, Maduro is awful, but that’s not what the invasion is about. It’s all about oil and Trump’s collapsing support at home.”

Advertisement

EX-ESPN STAR KEITH OLBERMANN CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT OF TRUMP OVER VENEZUELA STRIKES THAT CAPTURED MADURO

Around the country, a handful of other Democrats referenced impeachment or impeachable offenses, but did not go as far as Wiener in demanding such proceedings.

Rep. April McClain-Delaney, D-Md., who represents otherwise conservative “Mountain Maryland” in the state’s panhandle, said Monday that Democrats should “imminently consider impeachment proceedings,” according to TIME.

McClain-Delaney said Trump acted without constitutionally-prescribed congressional authorization and wrongly voiced “intention to ‘run’ the country.”

SCHUMER BLASTED TRUMP FOR FAILING TO OUST MADURO — NOW WARNS ARREST COULD LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’

Advertisement

One frequent Trump foil, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., cited in a statement that she has called for Trump’s impeachment in the past; blaming Republicans for letting the president “escape accountability.”

“Today, many Democrats have understandably questioned whether impeachment is possible again under the current political reality. I am reconsidering that view,” Waters said. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“What we are witnessing is an unprecedented escalation of an unlawful invasion, the detention of foreign leaders, and a president openly asserting power far beyond what the Constitution allows,” she said, while appearing to agree with Trump that Maduro was involved in drug trafficking and “collaborat[ion] with… terrorists.”

Wiener’s upcoming primary is considered the deciding election in the D+36 district, while a handful of other lesser-known candidates have reportedly either filed FEC paperwork or declared their candidacy, including San Francisco Councilwoman Connie Chan.

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Politics

California Congressman Doug LaMalfa dies, further narrowing GOP margin in Congress

Published

on

California Congressman Doug LaMalfa dies, further narrowing GOP margin in Congress

California Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) has died, GOP leadership and President Trump confirmed Tuesday morning.

“Jacquie and I are devastated about the sudden loss of our friend, Congressman Doug LaMalfa. Doug was a loving father and husband, and staunch advocate for his constituents and rural America,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the House majority whip, in a post on X. “Our prayers are with Doug’s wife, Jill, and their children.”

LaMalfa, 65, was a fourth-generation rice farmer from Oroville and staunch Trump supporter who had represented his Northern California district for the past 12 years. His seat was one of several that was in jeopardy under the state’s redrawn districts approved by voters with Proposition 50.

Emergency personnel responded to a 911 call from LaMalfa’s residence at 6:50 p.m. Monday, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. The congressman was taken to the Enloe Medical Center in Chico, where he died while undergoing emergency surgery, authorities said.

An autopsy to determine the cause of death is planned, according to the sheriff’s office.

Advertisement

LaMalfa’s district — which stretches from the northern outskirts of Sacramento, through Redding at the northern end of the Central Valley and Alturas in the state’s northeast corner — is largely rural, and constituents have long said they felt underrepresented in liberal California.

LaMalfa put much of his focus on boosting federal water supplies to farmers, and seeking to reduce environmental restrictions on logging and extraction of other natural resources.

One LaMalfa’s final acts in the U.S. House was to successfully push for the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools Act, a long-standing financial aid program for schools surrounded by untaxed federal forest land, whose budgets could not depend upon property taxes, as most public schools do. Despite broad bipartisan support, Congress let it lapse in 2023.

In an interview with The Times as he was walking onto the House floor in mid-December, LaMalfa said he was frustrated with Congress’s inability to pass even a popular bill like that reauthorization.

The Secure Rural Schools Act, he said, was a victim of a Congress in which “it’s still an eternal fight over anything fiscal.” It is “annoying,” LaMalfa said, “how hard it is to get basic things done around here.”

Advertisement

In a statement posted on X, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said he considered LaMalfa “a friend and partner” and that the congressman was “deeply committed to his community and constituents, working to make life better for those he represented.”

“Doug’s life was one of great service and he will be deeply missed,” Schiff wrote.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement called LaMalfa a “devoted public servant who deeply loved his country, his state, and the communities he represented.”

“While we often approached issues from different perspectives, he fought every day for the people of California with conviction and care,” Newsom said.

Flags at the California State Capitol in Sacramento will be flown at half-staff in honor of the congressman, according to the governor.

Advertisement

Before his death, LaMalfa was facing a difficult reelection bid to hold his seat. After voters approved Proposition 50 in November — aimed at giving California Democrats more seats in Congress — LaMalfa was drawn into a new district that heavily favored his likely opponent, State Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat who represents the state’s northwest coast.

LaMalfa’s death puts the Republican majority in Congress in further jeopardy, with a margin of just two votes to secure passage of any bill along party lines after the resignation of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday evening.

Adding to the party’s troubles, Rep. Jim Baird, a Republican from Indiana, was hospitalized on Tuesday for a car crash described by the White House as serious. While Baird is said to be stable, the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson from Louisiana, will not be able to rely on his attendance. And he has one additional caucus member – Thomas Massie of Kentucky – who has made a habit of voting against the president, bringing their margin for error down effectively to zero.

President Trump, addressing a gathering of GOP House members at the Kennedy Center, addressed the news at the start of his remarks, expressing “tremendous sorrow at the loss of a great member” and stating his speech would be made in LaMalfa’s honor.

“He was the leader of the Western caucus – a fierce champion on California water issues. He was great on water. ‘Release the water!’ he’d scream out. And a true defender of American children.”

Advertisement

“You know, he voted with me 100% of the time,” Trump added.

A native of Oroville, LaMalfa attended Butte College and then earned an ag-business degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He served in the California Assembly from 2002 to 2008 and the California State Senate from 2010 to 2012. Staunchly conservative, he was an early supporter of Proposition 209, which ended affirmative action in California, and he also pushed for passage of the Protection of Marriage Act, Proposition 22, which banned same-sex marriage in California.

While representing California’s 1st District, LaMalfa focused largely on issues affecting rural California and other western states. In 2025, Congressman he was elected as Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, which focuses on legislation affected rural areas.

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending