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McCarthy rises to top

California representative set to be next speaker of the House
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., right, and Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., left, race past reporters questions on Capitol Hill in Washington on Friday after a GOP Caucus meeting in which House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio announced he would resign from Congress. McCarthy is seen as the leading candidate to be the next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

WASHINGTON – Rep. Kevin McCarthy , R-Calif., finds himself at the doorstep of becoming the next speaker of the House after less than nine years in office, following Rep. John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, who announced Friday that he will resign from Congress next month.

If he does claim the speaker’s gavel, McCarthy’s climb to the top spot in the House will be the fastest since the 19th century. But his rapid ascent is grounded in a simple fact: In many ways, this is Kevin McCarthy’s GOP majority.

He did not amass nearly as much campaign money as Boehner, 65, or work the policy agenda as avidly as Eric Cantor of Virginia, the ex-majority leader who McCarthy succeeded last year. But McCarthy has tended to this flock of House Republicans more than any GOP leader of the past five years.

He recruited many of the members to run in the 2010 elections that delivered the majority, he has been their adviser and confidant, he works out with them in the House gym and keeps tabs on family members.

“Kevin has really risen with the conference,” Cantor said Saturday in an interview, noting that his relatively brief tenure fits the narrative of a House Republican Conference dominated by lawmakers who have less than five years experience. “It’s about building the trust. Kevin’s had a very intensive training in that process.”

However, the very reason for his success – his amiability and relationship savvy – is an issue that could return to haunt McCarthy should he succeed Boehner. The transition from a lower level post – just 15 months ago he was No. 3 in leadership – to becoming speaker is a sharp climb that will require more than just being the most likeable face at the leadership table.

He has never served as a committee chairman, nor does he have a major piece of legislation that defines his policy interests.

Some veteran lawmakers fear that the same troubling group of conservatives that bedeviled the current speaker will trouble his successor. The next few months present several fiscal battles in which conservatives are pushing for a confrontation with Democrats in the Senate or a veto fight with President Barack Obama. Democrats can slow or kill almost any legislation in the Senate where the threat of a filibuster requires 60 votes to move almost any legislation; there are 54 Republican senators.

“The next speaker is going to have to deal with those who deny basic math,” Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., a leader of the moderate wing, said. “It’s not just sad, there’s a sense of uncertainty and a little bit of a haze and a fog of not sure where things are going to go.”

McCarthy has made no official declaration that he will try to succeed Boehner, but many rank-and-file Republicans have coalesced around the Californian as the next in line.

Many Republicans could be seen lining up to talk to McCarthy during votes Friday immediately after Boehner’s surprise announcement. Advisers said that he has spent his time taking and making phone calls to lawmakers to test their feelings.

The only rival so far is Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., a third-term lawmaker whose long-shot challenge to Boehner early this year secured just 12 votes. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the only other Republican viewed to have enough personal gravitas to be speaker, all but endorsed McCarthy after Boehner dropped his bombshell on Friday.



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