Rep. McCarthy isn't jumping the gun on House Speaker role
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Monday it was too soon to be considered a successor to House Speaker Paul Ryan, who announced earlier this month he will not seek re-election in November.
“We have to make sure there’s an opportunity for a Republican to even run for speaker next year,” he said. “So we have our work cut out for us.”
McCarthy also commented on the $1.3 trillion “omnibus” spending bill that was signed into law in March in an effort to reduce wasteful government spending, saying it would make perfect sense to approve a rescission proposal on it.
“I think any member of Congress on any side of the aisle would want more ability to eliminate wasteful spending in government,” McCarthy said Monday. “We’re looking back not just when it comes to the omni, [but] any place in government and it should be used many times.”
The White House is aiming to send its rescission request to Congress early next month despite Sen. Mitch McConnell’s, R-Ky., dismissal of any clawback in spending. McCarthy said he recently met with White House budget director Mick Mulvaney and continues to work on a rescission.
“Any opportunity we have to be able to save the taxpayers money, we should work together and make it happen,” the California Republican said.
Rescission, which was enacted in 1974 by the same legislation that created the Congressional Budget Office, allows presidents to reject spending authority as long as Congress agrees, by a simple majority, within 45 days.
“Rescissions have been used always before,” McCarthy said. “Reagan used more than 200 times. Bill Clinton used more than 111 times.”
McCarthy rejects the notion that it was a mistake to sign the spending bill and says the fault lies on the Democratic minority, led by Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who continues to prevent government from being efficient.
“What the mistake is allowing the minority in the Senate to control government,” McCarthy said. “We’re looking at every opportunity we can to not let the minority stop us and actually put America first before politics.”