Kevin McCarthy’s advice to Speaker Mike Johnson as he prepares to leave Congress at the end of the year: ‘Do not govern like you’re afraid somebody’s going to make a motion to vacate’
- McCarthy says he did the right thing by keeping government funding
- Reaching an agreement with Democrats ultimately led to his resignation as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
- Speaker Mike Johnson replaced McCarthy after a contentious trial
Even though Rep. Kevin McCarthy was removed as House speaker, he said he did what he thought was right by striking a deal with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government open and funded.
McCarthy said he knows he’s risking his job but wants to do the right thing and has some advice for his successor, Speaker Mike Johnson, to do the same.
“It’s very hard work. If I were the best person to give advice, I would still be in it,” McCarthy told CBS News anchor Robert Costa in an interview that aired Sunday morning on Face the Nation.
“And to be fair to Speaker Johnson, he didn’t have time to plan years in advance. He was not a majority leader, he was not a minority leader. Is he Ok. It’s like anything else: 10,000 hours and you get better at your job,” the California Republican said, listing his previous credentials.
Kevin McCarthy said his best advice to his successor, Speaker Mike Johnson, is to “don’t govern with the idea that you’re afraid someone is going to apply for a waiver.”
After avoiding a suspension in September, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz filed a motion to relieve McCarthy of his top House job and strip him of his gavel. All Democrats and seven other Republicans joined Gaetz in voting against McCarthy.
McCarthy announced this month that he will not seek re-election – and what’s more, he will effectively leave Congress at the end of December, before his term expires.
Just weeks before leaving the House, McCarthy interviewed Costa about his time as Speaker and offered some advice to his successor.
“I think the best advice I can give him as speaker of the House is not to lead by thinking that you’re afraid that someone is going to apply for a waiver,” he said.
“When I made the decision to pay our troops rather than shut them down, I knew they were going to leave me,” McCarthy recalled after reaching an agreement to avoid a government shutdown. “I didn’t even know the Democrats would go along with it.”
Speaker Mike Johnson succeeded McCarthy after a contentious process that resulted in multiple failed nominations from lawmakers such as Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Ken Buck.
“But I knew for sure that I had been in this room before.” I saw things that failed,” he said.
It took several tries for Republicans to finally vote through a colleague and take the gavel: Louisiana Rep. Johnson took office in October after others failed, including Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, R-S.C. Colorado’s Ken Buck and even House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who ultimately withdrew his candidacy.
Rep. Patrick McHenry served as Speaker pro tempore between McCarthy’s resignation and Johnson’s rise to power. He was thought to be in line to take over the post with a more permanent role after the Republican Party struggled to find a new party leader.
But Rep. Jordan’s ultraconservative allies brushed off those prospects.