Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy is leaving Congress this month but not ruling out another government position — or a spot in a Trump administration cabinet.
“Yes, I believe in public service,” McCarthy told reporters during an impromptu Thursday exit interview when asked if he would accept a position under the former president with whom he’s had a roller-coaster relationship.
As he prepares to step down before the end of his term, a move he had ruled out after his ouster as speaker, McCarthy reflected on his tumultuous last year in Congress. His 2023 started with a grueling 15-round battle to win the gavel and ended with eight GOP colleagues voting to help Democrats boot him from the top spot.
After delivering his farewell speech, McCarthy again blasted the fellow Republicans who helped push him out and said he has no regrets. His chief nemesis remains Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who led the charge to oust McCarthy as speaker — though the Californian demurred when asked if he would use his fundraising connections to help GOP primary challengers to Gaetz and the other seven lawmakers who voted to eject him from the speakership.
“I want to find conservatives who want to govern,” McCarthy said. “Chaos doesn’t help us. And so, people who are willing to govern, I’m willing to help.”
McCarthy’s nine-month stint as speaker was also defined by a number of failed House floor votes, something McCarthy claimed was intentional.
“I did that on purpose,” McCarthy said, claiming that “we wanted to isolate people” in the conference who were resisting their leadership’s agenda. “You want to find where the problem was.”
And while Democrats have claimed that McCarthy never asked them to vote against Gaetz’s motion and save his speakership, he suggested otherwise during the interview.
“I’m sure I didn’t ask them,” McCarthy said with a sarcastic eye roll.
