Kevin McCarthy (politician)

Kevin McCarthy

Kevin McCarthy (born January 26, 1965 in Bakersfield , California ) is an American politician . Since 2007 he has represented California's 22nd congressional electoral district in the US House of Representatives . Since July 2014 he has been leader of the Republican parliamentary group in this Congress Chamber. As House Majority Leader from 2014 to 2018 chairman of the Republican majority parliamentary group , he became the Republican minority leader ( House Minority Leader ) of his party after the 2018 elections in January 2019 .

Career

Kevin McCarthy attended Bakersfield College until 1985 . He then studied at California State University there until 1994 . He then worked for Congressman Bill Thomas and joined the Republican Party . From 2002 to 2007 he was a member of the California State Assembly ; from 2004 to 2006 he headed the Republican parliamentary group there.

In the 2006 House of Representatives election , McCarthy was elected to the US House of Representatives in the 22nd  constituency of California, where he succeeded Thomas on January 3, 2007. After five re-elections between 2008 and 2016 inclusive, he still holds office today. His legislative term runs until January 3, 2019. Since 2013 he has represented the 23rd congressional electoral district of his state. In the US Congress, he was a member of the finance committee and two congressional sub-committees. Since 2011 he was Whip the Republican majority faction. In July 2014, he rose to parliamentary group leader after Eric Cantor resigned from the post. Because of opposition from the right-wing House Freedom Caucus , McCarthy's attempt to succeed John Boehner as Speaker of the House in October 2015 failed . He remained leader of the parliamentary group and was considered a favorite to succeed him after the announcement by the interim spokesman Paul Ryan that he would step down after the 2018 election , especially since Ryan spoke out in favor of McCarthy.

After losing the Republican majority in the House of Representatives in the 2018 election, Tea Party MP Jim Jordan announced that he would run against him as minority leader, the highest post in the minority party. In November 2018, McCarthy was re-elected group leader with 159 votes to 43.

McCarthy is married with two children; the family lives in Bakersfield.

In a confidential conversation with party friends on June 15, 2016, McCarthy said: "There are two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump. Swear to God." His spokesman initially denied that McCarthy had expressed himself in this way ("the idea that McCarthy would assert this is absurd and false.") After a recording was published in May 2017, McCarthy then tried to present his comment as a failed joke.

Web links

Commons : Kevin McCarthy  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Kevin McCarthy in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Web presence at the congress

supporting documents

1. ↑ Rachael Bade, John Bresnahan: Speakership drama pits McCarthy vs. Ryan. In: Politico , April 16, 2018.
2. ^ Zachary Basu: Jim Jordan challenges Kevin McCarthy for House GOP leader. In: Axios.com , November 7, 2018.
3. ^ Congressional leadership elections: House Republicans-elect Kevin McCarthy as next leader; Pelosi seeks to shore up votes for speakers. In: Washington Post. November 14, 2018, accessed November 14, 2018 . 
4. ↑ Adam Entous: House majority leader to colleagues in 2016: 'I think Putin pays' Trump . In: Washington Post , May 17, 2017. 
5. ^ McCarthy's "bad attempt at a joke" takes on new resonance with Russia news . In: CNN , May 18, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2017.