McCarthy constituents furious he's been ignoring their needs as he feeds his own desire for power
There is growing unrest back in his district aimed at House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), with his constituents believing that he is ignoring their needs because he is too caught up in his rise to power.
While McCarthy has spent months building support for his rise to speaker, people back home feel that their pleas for help with water problems in the largely rural district are falling on deaf ears and they are having to appeal to some lawmakers in neighboring districts for help.
As has been previously reported, the California Republican spent months building support for his drive to become House speaker after Democrats lost control of the chamber in the midterms. That was followed by a week spent on 15 ballots before holdouts in his own party fell in line.
As CNN is reporting, back home in California, his district is suffering from a devastating shortage of water that has some folks complaining they have to use gas station bathrooms to take baths. And they are still waiting for help.
CNN's Elia Nielsen reports "that about 8,000 people in the San Joaquin Valley need thousands of gallons of hauled water just to keep their taps flowing – and that number is growing."
With numbers increasing, the report adds, "Multiple people CNN spoke to for this story said McCarthy and his office don’t often engage on this issue in the district, especially compared with neighboring members of Congress. And they wish he would do more with his power in Washington – especially now that he holds the speaker’s gavel."
Put bluntly, Jessi Snyder, the director of community development at local nonprofit Self-Help Enterprises, explained, "In my experience, he has never engaged with us on any of these kinds of emergencies.”
According to the report, McCarthy’s office issued a statement claiming he is “a staunch advocate on water issues in the Central Valley and California,” but that hasn't stopped the criticism.
Tami McVay, Self-Help’s director of emergency services, begged to differ.
Telling CNN, the "outreach from McCarthy’s office on dry residential wells is 'slim to none, and I am not saying that to discredit them at all,'" she added, "I have had more conversations, more engagement and just more wanting to know how they can assist from Congressman [David] Valadao (R-CA) and his office than probably any other on the federal side.”
"Other members of Congress, including Democratic Rep. Jim Costa and Republican Connie Conway, who left office earlier this month, have also been more accessible and engaged on the issue, Snyder said," before adding, “Kevin McCarthy, no."
