Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy, dismissed as speaker of the United States House of Representatives, stated this Monday that his possible return to the leadership of the institution is in the hands of his party.
McCarthy made these statements despite the fact that last week he announced that he would not run for reelection after he was removed as leader of the Lower House following a rebellion by the hardest wing of the Republicans.
“This is a decision that the conference (the Republican parliamentary group) must make. I will let them make whatever decision,” the congressman responded when asked at a press conference about his possible return to the front of the House.
The Republican appeared before the media to evaluate the start of the war between Gaza and Israel, and give his opinion on the steps that Democrat Joe Biden’s Administration should take.
McCarthy declared that whether or not he is re-elected as “speaker”, the name in English by which the president of the House is known, he will continue to be a congressman making the proposals that he believes are necessary.
The Republican demanded that Biden rescue the American hostages kidnapped by Hamas and end the United States’ “policy of appeasement” that, in his opinion, has “emboldened terrorists.”
The US Congress has been paralyzed since last week’s ouster of McCarthy as speaker of the House of Representatives.
Without an active speaker, the House cannot, among other things, approve new military aid for Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion or for Israel in the new conflict with Gaza.
The Republicans, who hold a narrow parliamentary majority, have called several internal meetings over the next two days to try to vote for a new speaker next Wednesday.
So far, only two conservatives have filed as candidates: Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan.
The latter received public support last week from former President Donald Trump (2017-2021), who in turn does not rule out the possibility of assuming the presidency of the House for a short period to “unify” the Republican Party.
McCarthy, who in January made history by needing 15 votes to win the position, was removed from office by the rebellion of a small group of ultra-conservative Trump acolytes who oppose the agreements reached between Republicans and Democrats to avoid a default on the public debt or a federal government shutdown.
