From Bakersfield to speaker of the House: Kevin McCarthy's D.C. career in photos
Times Photo Staff
·4 min read
(Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Rep. Kevin McCarthy's last day in Congress was Sunday. The Bakersfield Republican congressman and former speaker's career in Washington, D.C., spanned more than a decade and a half.
Always a prodigious fundraiser, McCarthy rose quickly through the ranks of the House GOP after winning election in 2006. His first attempt to secure the speakership, in 2015, ended in failure. He finally achieved his longtime goal in 2023, after a historic 15-ballot fight. But his grasp on the gavel was short-lived. In early October, eight rebel Republicans joined with Democrats to oust him from the speaker's chair. In December, he announced he would retire before the end of the year, bringing his congressional career to a close.
Here's a photographic look at some of the highlights of McCarthy's time on Capitol Hill.
California's state Assembly members Dario Frommer, left, Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Nunez, Assembly minority leader Kevin McCarthy and Darrell Steinberg chat before the 2004 budget bill vote in the state Capitol building in Sacramento on May 28, 2004. (Bloomberg via Getty Images)
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) performs a mock swearing in for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) on Jan. 3, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington as the 113th Congress began. (Charles Dharapak / Associated Press)
House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who will lead the 116th Congress, shakes hands with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) as he hands her the gavel at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 3, 2019. (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)
Then-President Trump and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) disembark from Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport on April 5, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Los Angeles Times)
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) speaks at a press conference on Capitol Hill on March 11, 2021, in Washington, D.C., about the situation at the U.S. southern border. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) leaves a news conference with two unidentified people Nov. 3, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill on March 18, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and other members of the House Republican leadership walk down the steps of the House of Representatives, where members of the National Guard from California were standing at the base of the steps on Capitol Hill on March 11, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), center, prepares to depart after addressing a crowd during an election night watch party at the Westin, City Center, on Nov. 9, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) poses with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), former House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), her husband, Paul Pelosi, and others near her portrait following an unveiling ceremony in National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol Building on Dec. 14, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) pumps his fist as he votes for himself a 10th time in the House chamber as the House meets for the third day to try to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2023. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press)
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) speaks with reporters as he departs a GOP Caucus meeting in the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 3, 2023, in Washington, D.C. That day members of the 118th Congress would be sworn in and the House of Representatives would hold votes on a new speaker of the House. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
President Biden, left, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar attend the annual Friends of Ireland Caucus St. Patrick's Day Luncheon in the Rayburn Room of the U.S. Capitol on March 17, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speak to reporters after meeting with President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) at the White House on May 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) turns to walk away after speaking to the media outside the West Wing after meeting with President Biden and other congressional leaders in the White House on Nov. 29, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Biden met with Senate and House leaders to discuss the legislative agenda for the remainder of the year. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
LONDON—The Conservatives, the world’s winningest political party, were booted out of power in dramatic style on Thursday after 14 years of chaotic and divisive rule.The Labour Party had secured a landslide victory, ending an era of Conservative rule over Britain that stretches back to 2010; the year that the iPad and Instagram were launched and Lady Gaga wore that meat dress to the MTV music awards.In that time, the Conservatives have cycled through five leaders, each of them dragging the party
Former President Barack Obama has reportedly told allies that Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance has made his bid to win back the White House even tougher than it had been previously.The Washington Post reports that Obama gave a harsher private assessment of Biden’s chances of re-election following the debate despite publicly trying to ease concerns by tweeting that “bad debates happen.”The outlet reported that Obama “spoke directly with Biden by phone after last Thursday’s debate to offe
WARNING: This story contains graphic images of a leg injury.Last week, George Mandl, an American vacationing in Montreal, took his eight-year-old son Max to Parc Jean-Drapeau for a swim.It was a hot afternoon, and Max played on an inflatable structure anchored in the park's man-made lake.As his legs dangled in the blue-green darkness, he felt a stabbing pain. He screamed and, when lifeguards pulled him from the water, his leg was bleeding."It felt like a kind of electrical pain, like that pain w
A thread of bombshell text messages made public Thursday alleged that Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign settled “multiple” seedy lawsuits for a man described only as “Boris,” leading to conjecture it could be a powerful Trumpworld figure.Those messages were revealed by A.J. Delgado—a former staffer on Trump’s 2016 campaign who’s embroiled in a lawsuit against the current campaign, alleging she was taken advantage of and raped by her former superior, Jason Miller.As part of that lawsuit, Delgado, a la
The adult film star, who accused the former President of giving her hush money to keep quiet about their alleged sexual encounter now owes Trump $600,000 (£470,000) in legal costs after a defamation case she brought against him was dismissed. Last month in New York, Trump was criminally convicted for defaming another sexual assault accuser, E.Jean Carroll. The 45-year-old said on the Daily Mail's podcast, Everything I Know About Me, "How is it fair that I have better, more compelling evidence than E. Jean Carroll? And I'm glad she won. They continue to hand her money like it's f**king candy.”
MONTREAL — Ireland's prime minister says he's "absolutely appalled" by an assault in the country's capital that resulted in the death of a tourist from Montreal. Simon Harris on Wednesday described Neno Dolmajian's death in Dublin as "reprehensible" and "horrific" and told parliament the death is now being investigated as a murder. "I'm absolutely appalled at the recent vicious attack in Dublin city centre which resulted in the death of a young man, Neno Dolmajian, and my thoughts are with his l
Corazon Dandan died after being pushed into an oncoming BART train at San Francisco’s Powell Street Station at around 11 p.m on Monday night. The suspect, 49-year-old Trevor Belmont, also known as Hoak Taing, was arrested at the scene and booked into the San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of homicide and elder abuse. Dandan, who was Filipino American, was a dedicated telephone operator at the Westin St. Francis and other hotels.