In a shocking move Thursday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy dropped out of the race for speaker of the House, throwing the GOP leadership race into disarray. Washington bureau reporter Geoff Bennett was on Capitol Hill when it happened and filed the following report.
A bombshell on Capitol Hill in the race for speaker of the House.
Republican members of Congress were meeting in a hearing room to elect the person to replace John Boehner as speaker of the House when the person expected to win that nomination abruptly dropped out.
"I had no indication whatsoever," said Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas.
Q: Did you have any insights into why?
Rep. Peter King, New York: No. I don't think anybody did. No.
That congressman, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, later told reporters he didn’t believe he had the necessary votes from within his own party.
"I don't want making voting for speaker a tough one," McCarthy sad "If we are going to be strong, we've got to be 100 percent united."
McCarthy’s exit stunned his Republican collegeues.
It was a three-person race for speaker heading into Thursday's GOP election: McCarthy, Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Daniel Webster of Florida.
McCarthy had come under withering criticism from his colleagues for suggesting in a TV interview that the House committee investigating the 2012 attack in Benghazi was created to derail Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. That fueled concerns that McCarthy wasn’t ready for the top job.
Even more problematic was that the same force that drove out Speaker John Boehner - roughly 40 ultra-conservative House Republicans, known as the Freedom Caucus - threw their support behind Webster.
As it stands, there is no consensus to replace Boehner, but both Webster and Chaffetz say they’re staying in the race.
"I am trying to bridge the gulf and the divide, and that's not just going to end today," Chaffetz said.
As for Boehner, he issued a statement promising he’ll stay on the job until a replacement is elected on the House floor.