Kevin McCarthy is undoubtedly bitter at how he was treated by his own caucus — or, rather, by eight members of it, who outvoted 210 others — and I do not blame him one bit for that. I’m not surprised or disappointed that he will retire from Congress as a result. But resigning in the middle of his term is a shabby thing to do. His constituents elected him to serve a two-year term. His party, with the expulsion of George Santos, will be down to just 220 Republicans, the slimmest of majorities, at least until a special election in February.
It’s one thing to quit to take another public office, or for dire health reasons. It’s also one thing for senators to resign in the midst of their terms, which are long, where their seats can be filled almost immediately by an appointee. But I very much doubt that McCarthy is off to do anything so urgent that it can’t wait another year. In the meantime, his constituents will be, like those of Santos, unrepresented, and his party’s bargaining position will be weakened. I argued that it was a betrayal for Devin Nunes to do this to his party in January 2022. It’s the same from McCarthy.