Calvert Opposed Ouster of Kevin McCarthy

Rep. Calvert Speaks Out on Removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House of Representatives

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-41) said he opposed the removal of Kevin McCarthy as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

A handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to make history as McCarthy became the first speaker in U.S. history to be voted out of the position by his colleagues.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy had support from 208 members of his conference to remain as House speaker. But it took only eight dissenters in his party to boot him from the job on Tuesday.

The eight lawmakers generally voiced frustration with how McCarthy has moved priority legislation through the chamber, namely spending bills. Some have also described him as untrustworthy and failing to living up to various agreements he made to become speaker back in January, something he hotly disputed Tuesday when he announced he would not seek the post again.

“… a small number of House Republicans joined together with the entire Democratic Caucus to remove Kevin McCarthy as the Speaker of the House. I opposed this ridiculous charade that is more about personalities than policy, and more about rhetoric than results,” Calvert said in a statement. “Nothing we did (Tuesday) held President Biden accountable for the border crisis. Nothing we did today reduced inflationary spending. Nothing we did today helped the American economy from the failures of Bidenomics. Those are the issues I am ready to work on when these handful of House Republican chaos agents are ready to stop playing games.”

Speaker McCarthy has consistently delivered for the House Republican Conference, the state of California, and our country, “Calvert said. “He has proven himself to be a leader and fighter, even with a challenging slim House majority. I’m proud to call him a friend and serve beside him.”