'Pulverizing failure': Analyst slams Kevin McCarthy's career in the House

After being confirmed as House speaker in January 2023, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) mentioned that he had once walked the "streets of Bakerfield." The congressman was referencing a classic country song that had been a #1 hit for Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam in 1988; that was McCarthy's way of saying that he had come a long way in politics.

But McCarthy's time as speaker started in chaos and ended in chaos.

It took 15 House votes for McCarthy to be confirmed as speaker; members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus had rejected him on the first 14. Then, in October 2023, he was ousted as speaker after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) triggered a "motion to vacate."

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Now, McCarthy is resigning from Congress. And he will likely be gone by the time 2024 arrives.

In a scathing end-of-2023 article published on December 21, The New Republic's Michael Tomasky looks back on McCarthy's nine months as speaker.

The "shortest-serving House speaker in American history," Tomasky argues, will be remembered as a "pulverizing failure."

"First and foremost, and by far," Tomasky writes, "he will go down in history for that photograph. You know the one I mean: The Mar-a-Lago one, standing next to Donald Trump. It was a week after Trump's presidency ended in January 2021, and three weeks and a day after McCarthy got into a screaming match with Trump over the phone on January 6, about the rioters Trump had sent Hill-ward to hang Mike Pence."

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"Other things" that McCarthy will "be remembered for," Tomasky laments, include "that joke of a speakership vote" and his "utter lack of achievement in behalf of the American people that he oversaw.

"McCarthy's pulverizing failure as a legislative leader stems from two truths," Tomasky explains. "One, he cared little about policy. Two, his word was no good. He'd say anything to anyone."

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Michael Tomasky's full article for The New Republic is available at this link.