McCarthy’s exit further diminishes GOP’s majority, jeopardizes spending and policy bills

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Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision to exit Congress early will shrink the GOP’s razor-thin majority and further hobble passage of stalled spending and policy bills. 

The Republican majority already was diminished last week by the expulsion of Rep. George Santos of New York over ethics violations. 

The exit of both Mr. Santos and Mr. McCarthy, and the expected departure early next year of Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio, will leave Speaker Mike Johnson with a mere two-seat advantage. 

The smaller majority will make it more difficult for Mr. Johnson, of Louisiana, to muster unity in the fractured conference. It’s a feat that his predecessor, Mr. McCarthy, often struggled with and it ultimately led to his historic ousting. 

Mr. Johnson will have little wiggle room in the GOP conference as he faces a January deadline to pass stagnant spending bills and avoid a government shutdown. 

Rep. John Rutherford, Florida Republican, told The Washington Times that he hoped Republicans would “come together like never before” to pass bills in the face of a waning majority. 

However, middle ground has been hard to find for House Republicans as hard-right conservatives have demanded spending cuts, tougher border security, and have resisted additional U.S. funding for Ukraine that President Biden wants. 

“What scares me is, I think there’s a certain cadre within the conference, they don’t care about a shutdown. Sometimes I wonder if they don’t enjoy being in the minority,” Mr. Rutherford said. “They’re certainly not afraid of it apparently, because shutdowns have never, ever worked to our advantage. Ever.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, blamed the House Freedom Caucus for the dwindling majority.

Some in the Freedom Caucus used an obscure House rule to oust Mr. McCarthy from the speaker’s chair, which left the House unable to legislate for several weeks and ultimately led to Mr. McCarthy’s decision to leave Congress. 

“I can assure you Republican voters didn’t give us the majority to crash the ship. Hopefully no one dies,” Ms. Greene said. 

Moving the dozen government spending bills one-by-one to avoid a colossal, omnibus spending package has been a priority for Republicans, but the process has all but stalled over divisions on policy riders in the remaining five bills. 

So far, no spending bill has made it to the House floor for a vote in the nearly two-week period since lawmakers returned from Thanksgiving. 

Some lawmakers believe an even thinner majority will not make much of a difference, especially since rogue lawmakers have been prone to blocking floor votes throughout this congressional session. 

The departure of Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Santos lowers the House GOP’s numbers to 220. Mr. Johnson of Ohio said he’ll leave Congress in the coming months to become president of Youngstown State University. His exit will drop the GOP’s numbers to 219, while Democrats currently hold 213 seats.

Mr. McCarthy announced his decision to retire at the end of the month in a statement on Wednesday.

“Today, I am driven by the same purpose that I felt when I arrived in Congress. But now, it is time to pursue my passion in a new arena,” Mr. McCarthy said. 

The slim majority could be temporary. Both districts held by Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Santos will have special elections to fill their seats. Mr. McCarthy’s district has been reliably Republican, but Mr. Santos represented a swing district that could easily end up electing a Democrat to replace him. 

Rep. Dusty Johnson, South Dakota Republican, said most bills scuttled on the House floor were defeated by a dozen Republicans voting to block the legislation, so a thinner majority may not matter. 

“I know everybody’s talking about the tenuousness of a three-vote majority, but we’ve had 20 hard-liners vote against a number of appropriations bills, so I’m not really sure 221 was a functioning majority,” Mr. Johnson said. 

Mr. Johnson is preparing to hold a formal vote on whether to open a formal impeachment inquiry into whether Mr. Biden used his role as vice president to help his family secure lucrative business deals. 

Mr. Johnson has pitched the vote as a  way to help investigators on the House Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means committees bulldoze through the White House’s efforts to stonewall their investigation.

That vote was already in question because of tepid support from moderate Republicans, and may be harder to pass without Mr. McCarthy, who unilaterally launched the probe, and Mr. Santos, who likely would have backed a formal inquiry.

Rep. Ryan Zinke, Montana Republican, told The Washington Times that the conference has struggled to be effective as a unified bloc all year, and has punted and blocked the GOP’s agenda. 

“We don’t have a run game, we don’t have a pass game,” Mr. Zinke said. “We’re blocking, and oftentimes plenty.”