Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., urged his colleagues not to nominate him again for House speaker during a meeting Wednesday.
The development, reported by Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News, comes after McCarthy allies Reps. Carlos A. Giménez, R-Fla., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., floated the possibility of his return this past week.
Newsmax's John Gizzi also noted that California Republican House members discussed the potential return of McCarthy in a closed-door meeting Wednesday at the home of Rep. Jay Obernolte.
McCarthy previously skated around completely ruling out his return to the position in light of the Hamas incursion in southern Israel. He told reporters Monday that he would let the conference "do their work."
McCarthy declined to endorse GOP Reps. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the minority leader, or Jim Jordan of Ohio, the Judiciary Committee's chairman, to succeed him.
"Is our conference just going to select somebody, only to throw them out in another 81 days?" McCarthy asked. But he expressed concern too: "The House can do nothing without a speaker."
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a fierce critic who filed the motion to remove McCarthy, has mocked Giménez and Lawler's push for McCarthy's return.
"Math is real," Gaetz wrote on X, insisting that even if McCarthy had substantial support, he could not hit the needed threshold of gaining the majority of the chamber's vote. "Time to move forward."
A candidate forum featuring Scalise and Jordan is scheduled for Tuesday at 5 p.m. EDT. It's expected to be followed by a conference endorsement on Wednesday morning and a vote soon after.
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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