WASHINGTON — Rep. Kevin McCarthy Monday said he is open to returning as House Speaker in a move to project unity amid the war in Israel.
The deposed Republican leader said he would be willing to run as a consensus candidate to avoid a messy internal battle among GOP lawmakers.
“Whatever the conference wants, I will do,” he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “I think we need to be strong. I think we need to be united.”
McCarthy had previously said he would definitely not consider running for Speaker after he was ousted in a divisive fight last week.
But he suggested that the war in Israel might force him to reconsider the idea of taking back the Speaker’s gavel.
“The conference has to make that decision. I’m still a member. I’m going to continue to fight and act,” McCarthy said.
Republican lawmakers are expected to vote Wednesday on a potential replacement for McCarthy.
The leading candidates are Rep. Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chair, and Rep. Steve Scalise, who was McCarthy’s top lieutenant. Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is currently the interim Speaker.
After the war broke out in Israel, a handful of Republicans floated McCarthy as a possible unity candidate.
Some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are concerned about the impact that a potentially protracted and bitter battle could have on assisting Israel as it battles Hamas in a full-blown war that erupted over the weekend.
McCarthy was ousted last week in a historic vote of Congress after a small group of GOP hardliners turned on him.
He lashed out again at the eight Republicans led by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz who voted to remove him after he compromised with Democrats to avert a government shutdown.
A shutdown could have led to some troops not being paid even as the hostilities rage in the Middle East.
“They’re the ones who wanted a government shutdown,” McCarthy said about his fellow Republicans. “We wouldn’t be paying our troops while we’re putting out a carrier strike fighter there – 30,000 American men and women in our armed services in the Middle East wouldn’t be being paid right now? I mean, what weakness would we be at?”
