Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said people are retiring from Congress at record numbers because "nothing is happening" on Capitol Hill.
"If nothing's being accomplished, because they are making a sacrifice, they're being away from their family, sometimes it's a long travel, you get harassed, you get death threats, all the different things, but you're willing to make that sacrifice if you can accomplish something," McCarthy said on C-SPAN's "Ceasefire" with Dasha Burns.
"When nothing is happening, when it's just pure fighting, people say, 'I could go spend my time doing something else,'" McCarthy added. "And it's not good when you see the number of people retiring, but the quality of people."
More than 50 representatives from both parties are retiring and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., will be resigning from Congress next week.
McCarthy said gerrymandering on both the right and the left is bad for the country.
"Well, now we're trying to make whole states decide whether they're red or blue, and that's bad for the country," McCarthy said.
"Remember, the founders, we're going to have our 250th anniversary this year, the founders designed it where the House you can flip every two years," McCarthy added. "It's supposed to be a microcosm of society, closest there."
"The Senate, every six years, so it's more grandfatherly, calm it down," McCarthy continued. "Predetermining who's elected, that's not good. You're taking away the power of the idea."
McCarthy resigned from Congress at the end of 2023 after he was deposed as speaker.
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