Kevin McCarthy, the former Republican Speaker of the House, now openly doubts his partys ability to hold onto its narrow majority in the chamber.
In a candid interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday, McCarthy said Democrats are poised to reclaim the House, citing historical midterm patterns and criticizing current Speaker Mike Johnson for keeping lawmakers in Washington for too few legislative days, a schedule he suggests undermines serious governing. According to Bloomberg, McCarthy framed the problem less as a Democratic surge than a Republican collapse, declaring, It's not that the Democrats are going to win this election, and adding, Republicans are going to lose it.
McCarthy went further, challenging his own party to articulate a governing vision should they somehow retain control. What are the three things Republicans will do if they win the majority? I can't tell you what that is, he admitted, a striking confession from the man who helped engineer the GOPs House victory in 2022 before being ousted as speaker less than a year later.
Despite his bleak outlook for Republicans, McCarthy argued that Democrats are hardly prepared to govern if they do take power. He contended that Democrats have failed to present a coherent, forward-looking agenda, suggesting that even a Democratic majority would quickly run into the limits of its own ideological confusion.
His remarks come as a growing number of Republicans privately acknowledge that holding the House is becoming increasingly difficult, shifting their focus from expanding the majority to simply limiting losses. In a Politico report last week, five senior Republican lawmakers expressed doubts about the partys prospects, with one bluntly stating that the goal now is to save as many Republican seats as we can.
That sense of vulnerability has intensified scrutiny of Johnsons leadership and raised questions about his future if Republicans lose control. It's not that the Democrats are going to win this election, McCarthy reiterated on Bloomberg TV, Republicans are going to lose it, a repetition that underscores how much he believes internal missteps, not Democratic strength, are driving the current trajectory.
Johnson himself has at times appeared to acknowledge the possibility of defeat, albeit with a light touch. Earlier this month, he joked on Fox News that he was unsure what his next chapter of life would be if Republicans lost the chamber, even quipping that he might return to his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, and start a lawn-care business.
Behind closed doors, however, Republicans are already gaming out potential leadership changes should the gavel slip from Johnsons hands. According to The Washington Post, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan are among the names being floated as possible successors in a post-defeat shake-up.
Johnson has since tried to tamp down speculation about his future, telling CBS News he expects Republicans to ask him to continue leading the conference even if they fall into the minority. Scalise, for his part, has publicly pushed back against what he views as premature surrender, arguing that Republicans still have real opportunities in competitive districts and urging colleagues to focus on campaigning rather than jockeying for leadership, as reported by Axios.
McCarthys stark assessment highlights the deep divisions within the GOP as Election Day approaches, with some Republicans projecting confidence while others quietly brace for a loss of power. Even if Democrats do seize the House, McCarthy warned that they will confront serious governing challenges of their own, insisting that they have yet to offer voters a clear, credible agenda for what they would actually do with control of the chamber.
Login