Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January to October 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he represented California's 22nd congressional district from 2007 to 2013, followed by California's 23rd congressional district from 2013 to 2023, and finally California's 20th congressional district in 2023 before resigning from the House of Representatives the same year.
Born and raised in Bakersfield, California, McCarthy graduated from the Bakersfield campus of California State University. He served two terms as a member of the California State Assembly before being elected to the U.S. House in 2006. McCarthy served as the House Republican chief deputy whip from 2009 to 2011 and as House majority whip from 2011 to 2014. After House majority leader Eric Cantor's reelection loss in the 2014 Republican primary, McCarthy was elected majority leader under Speaker John Boehner, a position he retained during Paul Ryan's speakership. In 2019, after Ryan retired, McCarthy was elected House Minority Leader.
As Minority Leader, McCarthy supported Donald Trump's false claims of election fraud after Joe Biden won the 2020 U.S. presidential election and initially participated in efforts to overturn the results. After the U.S. Capitol was stormed during the 2021 electoral vote count, McCarthy reversed his previous comments on voter fraud in the election and blamed Trump for the riot. By 2022, he had publicly reconciled with Trump. McCarthy led the House Republicans through the 2022 elections, in which they gained a slimmer-than-expected majority.
McCarthy was the Republican nominee for speaker in January 2023 but did not win the speakership on the first attempt, securing the office only after days of successive votes on a historic 15 different ballots as well as negotiations within his own party. During his tenure as speaker, very few bills were passed into law compared to preceding modern congresses.
As speaker, McCarthy dealt with a standoff between the House Republican conference and Biden administration that led to the 2023 debt-ceiling crisis that nearly culminated in a first-ever national default. To resolve the crisis, the parties negotiated the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which passed with bipartisan support in Congress before Biden signed it into law. In September 2023, McCarthy relied on Democrats to help pass a bipartisan continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown. As a result, Republican congressman Matt Gaetz filed a motion to vacate the speakership against McCarthy.
Following a largely unprecedented House floor debate between members of the majority party, McCarthy was voted out as speaker on October 3, 2023. He was succeeded by Mike Johnson as speaker. His tenure was the third-shortest for a speaker of the House in United States history, and he became the first speaker to ever be removed from the role during a legislative session. McCarthy resigned as a member of the House at the end of 2023.
McCarthy was born on January 26, 1965, in Bakersfield, California. He is the son of Owen McCarthy an assistant city fire chief,
and Roberta Darlene (née Palladino), a homemaker. McCarthy is a fourth-generation resident of Kern County. His maternal grandfather was an Italian immigrant. McCarthy is the first Republican in his immediate family, as his parents were members of the Democratic Party. He attended Bakersfield High School, where he played on the football team, from 1979 to 1983.
In 1984, at age 19, McCarthy ran his first business selling sandwiches out of the back of his uncle's yogurt shop on Stine Road. He was able to finance this business after winning $5,000 in the California State Lottery and subsequently investing these winnings in the stock market.
McCarthy attended California State University, Bakersfield, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in marketing in 1989 and a Master of Business Administration in 1994. During college, he worked as a seasonal firefighter for the Kern County Fire Department.
McCarthy served on the staff of Congressman Bill Thomas from 1987 to 2002. He chaired the California Young Republicans in 1995 and the Young Republican National Federation from 1999 to 2001. From the late 1990s until 2000, he was Thomas's district director. McCarthy won his first election in 2000, as a Kern Community College District trustee. However, Thomas has since criticized McCarthy in numerous interviews.
McCarthy was elected to the California State Assembly in 2002 and became the Republican floor leader in 2003. In 2006, McCarthy was first elected to the United States House of Representatives as a representative for California's 22nd district. He succeeded his former boss, Bill Thomas, who retired. The district was renumbered as the 23rd district in 2013, and again as the 20th district in 2023.
Committee on Financial Services
Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
House Republican steering committee
House Republican Chief Deputy Whip, 2009–2011
House Majority Whip, 2011–2014