The fall of Kevin McCarthy may be just getting started
Kevin McCarthy is no longer Speaker of the House but he’s still a member of Congress. Now someone is leaking to the media that Kevin McCarthy is considering resigning from Congress entirely. But he’s denying it. So what’s really going on? There are two explanations.
One scenario is that McCarthy leaked this himself, to see what kind of high paying lobbying gigs he gets offered, so he can decide whether to retire. In such case McCarthy is denying his own leak, in case he decides not to resign.
The other scenario is that someone on the Republican side falsely leaked that McCarthy is considering resigning, just to screw with him.
Logically speaking, it feels like scenario one is more likely. But the media is increasingly willing to print leaks that it knows are probably just strategically planted false information, so scenario two is also possible.
So will McCarthy resign? If this is him putting out lobbying feelers, it’ll depend on the offers he gets.
Would the Democrats be able to win the resulting special election? That district isn’t normally competitive at all. That can sometimes change when it’s a one-off special election. But I wouldn’t assume it would be in play.
