Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday appeared open to running for the speakership again, despite having said last week after his ouster from the role that he would not run again.
The former speaker held a press conference Capitol Hill Monday to lay out a five-point plan for responding to Hamas’s barbaric assault on Israel over the weekend.
Asked during the conference whether there is any scenario in which he would consider another speakership bid, McCarthy replied: “This is about a moment in time. This is about what America’s going to do.”
“That’s a decision by the conference,” McCarthy added, circling back to the question about the speakership. “I’ll allow the conference to make whatever decision. Whether I’m speaker or not, I’m a member of this body. I know what history has had and I can lead in any position it is.”
McCarthy was ousted Tuesday in a 216-210 vote, marking the first time the House chamber has forced out a speaker via a motion to vacate. The effort was led by Representative Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.) and seven fellow House Republicans who were motivated by McCarthy’s decision to strike a last minute spending deal with Democrats to avert a government shutdown.
“Can you imagine if we were sitting here and listened further to a [Representative Matt] Gaetz and [Representative Nancy] Mace that we were going to shut down as we asked our 30,000 men and women in the military in the Middle East to defend us without being paid?” McCarthy said Monday.
The unfolding conflict in Israel has added increased pressure on the House as it works to choose a successor. GOP Representative Patrick McHenry is currently acting as speaker pro tempore.
There is an understanding among the House Republicans who stripped McCarthy of his gavel that they will not support any effort to bring him back as speaker to unify the conference during a moment of crisis, sources familiar with the lawmakers’ thinking told National Review.
Representative Nancy Mace (R., S.C.), who joined Gaetz and the other House GOP rebels in voting to oust McCarthy, told National Review that she would not support returning him to the position.
“The most popular thing Congress has done since Kevin McCarthy became speaker was vacate him. The swamp wants him, the American people don’t. I’m on the right side of history,” Mace said, pointing to a CBS News poll which found that a majority of Americans supported the move to oust McCarthy.
The State Department said Monday that nine U.S. citizens were killed during the terrorist attack in Israel over the weekend, while others are believed to be held hostage in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas launched a surprise attack over the weekend, sending rockets into Israel’s interior as terrorists rampaged through communities along Israel’s border with Gaza, raping, torturting, abducting and murdering civilians. The attack killed nearly 700 Israelis.
Hamas terrorists targeted a desert music festival near the Gaza border, slaughtering 260 civilians.
Hamas said Monday that it is holding more than 100 Israeli hostages in Gaza, including soldiers and high-ranking military leaders.
“As we all woke up Saturday to the horrific scenes of innocent civilians being murdered and slaughtered by a terrorist attack from Hamas,” McCarthy said Monday. “I watched with horror at what was transpiring.”
“Now is the time for action. America needs a five-point plan to meet this moment,” he added, saying the “very first thing we need to do is rescue the American hostages.”
“President Biden’s number one priority right now must be finding out how many Americans have been taken hostage and get them home,” he said.
“This administration must also make clear that harming any American will result in the wrath of the United States. We cannot repeat what happened in Afghanistan. It must be clear that we do not negotiate with terrorists and no American will be left behind,” he added.
McCarthy went on to call for Biden’s policy on appeasement to come to an end. “His policy has only emboldened terrorists in handing over $6 billion to Iran only helps the cause,” he said, adding that the U.S. should act upon provisions that allow it to refreeze the money if Iran has done something wrong.
He also called on Biden to immediately demand the extradition of the leader of Hamas.
McCarthy’s plan also includes resupplying Israel so its military will not ever be overwhelmed, confronting Iran, and expanding the Abraham Accords to promote peace and freedom.
He called for the U.S. to reinstate the “maximum pressure campaign against Iran” and to pursue American energy independence.
He said the failure to predict the attack was not just a failure on Israel’s intelligence community, but also on the U.S. intelligence community.
Finally, he criticized other members of Congress for failing to come out forcefully against anti-Semitism.
“Saying no comment is not leadership. Allowing elected members of this body to speak antisemitism and not condemn it is wrong,” he said.